It’s no secret that Ariana Grande was a massive fan of the Broadway musical Wicked long before she was cast in the Jon M. Chu film adaptation. Grande even spoke with Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway, when she decided to audition for the role. Getting Chenoweth’s support was easy, but auditioning for the role that landed the “thank u, next” singer her first Oscar nomination was much more difficult. In fact, it could have gone completely different.
Grande recently sat down with Oscar Winning Singer/Songwriter Billie Eilish at the Directors Guild of America’s theater during a screening and Q&A session for Academy and Guild members. According to Variety, the two gushed over their love for each other before diving into what it was it took for the two-time Grammy winner to land the life-changing role.
Grande knew in her heart that she wanted to be Glinda the minute she learned the adaptation was actually happening. However, the production team wasn’t 100% convinced that she was their Good Witch and reportedly considered her an option for the role of Elphaba, as well. The hesitancy led to a grueling first audition where Grande recalls:
So they did have me sing four songs: ‘No One Mourns the Wicked,’ ‘Popular,’ ‘Wizard and I’ and ‘Defying Gravity.
The team may have had Grande sing the powerful and iconic solo songs for each of the lead roles, but she went into the audition with one goal: land the role of Glinda. She even implemented decades-old advice to ‘dress for the job you want.”
I was in all pink. It was obvious! No one was hiding anything. I just think that they were very thorough, so they had me do all of those multiple times. And then I had my callback, which had scenes, and we did dialogue and more Glinda songs — just for Glinda at that point.
After a screen test and several chemistry reads, Grande got the part, and Wicked certainly wouldn’t be the same without her. However, learning that she could have landed the role of Elphaba does have me a bit curious as to what might have been.
Sure, Grande may exclude everything Glinda stands for, and she definitely did her research on Chenoweth’s portrayal. Still, I wonder what Wicked would look like if the production team heard her belt out “Defying Gravity” and deemed her Elphaba material.
There’s no denying she has the vocal range for the Wicked Witch of the West, but it's a bit harder to imagine her as the less perky character. After all, much of Grande’s acting history has revolved around her playing upbeat and somewhat ditzy characters. With that in mind, it would have been fun to see her stretch her acting talents and play a character so different than her previous roles.
Not to mention, it would have led to an entirely different actress getting cast in the Glinda role. Perhaps the role would have gone to Mamma Mia! Star Amanda Seyfried and Dove Cameron, as both confirmed they auditioned for the role.
Of course, there are major cons to casting Grande as Elphaba. The most obvious is that the world wouldn’t have gotten to bear witness to Cynthia Ervio’s breathtaking take on the iconic character, and that would be a travesty. Despite early controversy over Grande’s casting, it all worked out and she got to live out her childhood dream.
While Wicked isn’t available on any of the best streaming services yet, it can be purchased or rented digitally with a Prime Video subscription.
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