Musicals are a tried and true genre in the film world, with a number of movie musicals winning Best Picture over the years. After Mean Girls‘ strong box office performance, the next of these movies will be Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked films. That pair of flicks will star Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with the latter multitalent explaining how she transformed into Glinda for the role.
What we know about Wicked is substantial, since the movies will adapt the Broadway musical of the same name. Anticipation is high, partly thanks to Wicked‘s cast list full of killer talent. Ariana Grande is going back to her Broadway roots to play Glinda, and spoke to Variety about wanting to leave her pop star person behind for the movie. In her words:
I had to completely erase popstar Ari — the person they know so well — because it’s harder to believe someone as someone else because they’re so branded as one thing. I had to really go all the way to strip that down.
There you have it. While Grande could have rested on her laurels, it sounds like she really challenged herself to become someone else in the Wicked movies. And that should help to quiet any naysayers who had doubts about her acting chops when portraying Galinda/Glinda throughout the pair of musical movies. Of course, no one can challenge her musicianship and vocal talent.
Grande’s comments help to peel back the curtain on what it was like for her to go from pop star to bonafide movie star for Glinda. The first Wicked trailer debuted footage of Grande and the rest of the cast, and that limited footage definitely got moviegoers hyped for its arrival in theaters this fall. Although some fans had questions about which Wicked movie the footage was from.
Arian Grande actually started her career in Broadway, in the original cast of Jason Robert Brown’s musical 13. From there she became a Nickelodeon star, and eventually became a global popstar. So the Wicked movies will see her going back to her musical theater roots.
Of course, she’s not alone in this endeavor. Tony-winning Broadway icon Cynthia Erivo is playing Elphaba in the Wicked movies, and it seems that the pair of stars have really bonded during their year of filming. And according to Erivo, the Wicked getting two movies allows for more time focused on the Glinda and Elphaba friendship.
Luckily for fans, our wait for the first part of this two-movie event will be here before we know it. The first Wicked movie will hit theaters on November 27th. While we wait, check the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next trip to the movies this year. For now I’ll just re-listen to the Wicked cast recording for the umpteenth time.