How Wicked Director Landed On Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo As His Leads

Wicked director Jon M. Chu is revealing how Ariana Grande landed her dream role of Glinda. Unless you have been living under a pop culture rock, you would know that Grande has been vying for the role of Glinda the Good Witch ever since she first saw the Broadway musical at a 10-year-old child. Grande even met the original cast backstage and even sung a little bit of "Popular" to OG Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth at the time. So, the 31-year-old landing the role in the film adaptation of the musical seems like a given ... right? Attempting to cast the beloved leads of the iconic musical would be no easy feat for Chu, and he admitted he resisted making the "easy" choice putting Grande in the role. "She auditioned many times," Chu told Vanity Fair recalled in the Wicked cover story, before adding that the singer would regularly arrive at her auditions 30 minutes early and circle around in her car until it was her call time. "I sort of didn't want to believe that she could do this. It seems almost too easy to say, 'Oh, Ariana Grande,'" he told the publication. However, Grande fought for her spot, with Chu adding, "Every time she came in, she was the most interesting person. You just couldn't take your eyes away." She, of course, wasn't the only one auditioning for the part and Grande was up against some of her own friends. "I knew so many of the people that were going in, and everyone was texting me," Grande said, before claiming she actually helped others prepare for their auditions for her dream role. Costar Cynthia Erivo who plays the role of Elphaba, was shocked to hear this -- telling her, "Ari, that's crazy." "I know," Grande responded, before adding, "I had no boundaries back then." Erivo, on the other hand, handled her audition completely differently -- and, despite being one award away from an EGOT, the Broadway star was unsure if she would even be "seen" for the role of Elphaba. "I was like, 'I don't think this is going to happen, but I love the idea of watching this musical,'" she admitted. Unlike Grande, Erivo didn't want to know anything about other people she would be competing against. "I kept telling my team, 'Do not give me any information. I don't want to know,'" she said. "'I don’t want to know who's gone in. I don't want to know what people are being asked to do. I don't want to know anything about it.'" However, once Erivo walked into the room, Chu said "she embodied this version of Elphaba that I had never seen." See them both in action when Wicked: Part One premieres November 27, 2024.