Both actresses deliver stunning performances in thejaw-dropping musical adaptation ofWicked, and their roles are utterly their own.
Her Glinda compliments Erivo’s Elphaba, making it hard to imagine either one not in these respective roles.
I was like, ‘Of course she’s coming in for Galinda.’
I’m like, ‘That was not the plan.’
And they’re like, ‘Well, she prepped it.’
She was being nice to me, and I was being nice to her.
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We just let her do it.
But in my mind I was like, ‘Why is she singing Elphaba right now?’
Maybe because she’s sung those in the past, but to me, she was always a Glinda.
Image via Universal Pictures
We are here for Glinda.
Another hypothetical change concerns how the songs would have been delivered.
She’s delusional, self-centered, and bubbly to an extreme.
It’s understandable why she initially grates on Elphaba’s nerves.
Grande achieves just that by making her Glinda hilarious yet empathetic.
Furthermore, Grande has won two Grammys and received 18 nominations total.
She is a gifted singer, making her vocal performance alone as Glinda instantly iconic.
However, most important is her chemistry with Cynthia Erivo.
Wickedhinges on this friendship and the two accoladed performers complement each other perfectly in the movie.
Image via Universal Pictures
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
