Ethan Slater Did Triple Duty For His ‘Wicked’ Audition Tape (Exclusive)

Ethan Slater can do it all!

The actor, 32, auditioned for his role as Boq in Evil by appearing as the character in his audition tape, as well as Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Nessarose (Marissa Bode).

“I did two scenes and sang Boq’s songs, ‘The Ozdust Ballroom’ and ‘March of the Witch Hunters,’ which is the second movie,” Slater says in PEOPLE’s new special. Evil edition.

“But,” he continues, “I have to say that I didn’t have anyone to read with at the time, so the tape I sent is me playing Glinda and Nessa off-camera, and then I read with a video by myself.”

Calling the decision to play three characters at once on his audition tape “so cool,” Slater adds, “I can’t believe I got away with it. But I knew I wanted to take my time with it … and I couldn’t get anyone to spend that time with me, so I just did it with myself.”

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Evil marks Slater’s first major film. He had long ago auditioned for Boq on Broadway, though he didn’t get the part.

However, he later got the title role SpongeBob SquarePantsa musical version of the hit television series Nickelodeon, which earned him a Tony Award nomination.

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The upcoming film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical stars Grande, 31, as Glinda, opposite Cynthia Erivo, who portrays Elphaba. (The musical’s original Broadway cast included Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the roles, respectively.)

Others starring in the project, directed by Jon M. Chu, include Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond, Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen.

According to Slater, getting to work with such a large ensemble of talented actors was like no other.

“What felt really special is how much everyone cared about their characters,” he tells PEOPLE. “When you’re working on something that’s been around the world for 20 years, and these are characters that fans love and care about, it’s really important that the actors portraying them in a film of this scale , as much as anyone else, and everyone did.”

“Watching Cynthia navigate her love for Elphaba, watching Ariana navigate her love for Glinda, and how they were able to imbue their performances, it was revelatory, it was so beautiful,” he continues.

Speaking specifically about Grande, who he’s currently dating, Slater says: “One of the things that was really fun to watch is that she has a masterful grasp of comedy and she’s so funny and so physical and it never feels like a joke. On top of the character it always feels like it’s coming straight from Glinda You get lost in the show – she just is Glinda. Even in the incredibly funny physical moments.”

Buy PEOPLE’s Evil special edition here. Evil will be released in two parts, with the first in theaters on Friday, November 22.