Ariana Grande opened up about her experience auditioning for Wicked.
The 31-year-old pop star is bringing Glinda to life in the musical movies, the first of which premieres on November 22.
During an appearance on the Sentimental Men podcast, Ariana revealed when she first learned about the movie, her dramatic response to the possibility of auditioning and more.
She explained how she got prepared, what her first audition was like and if she was initially brought in to read for Elphaba or Glinda.
Ariana also shared how Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway, responded when she found out that she was auditioning for the movie.
Keep reading to find out more…
On the podcast, Ariana said that she first learned about auditions before director Jon M. Chu was attached.
“It was just a murmuring of a something,” she said, confirming it was before the pandemic. “And I remember I was on the Sweetener tour and I said to my team, ‘If this is happening now, we have to figure it out. We gotta pull the plug on this tour. I’m going home, I’m getting in voice lessons, I’m getting in acting lessons, and I’m gonna turn this s-it out.”
She reiterated, “If this is happening now I’m going home, and I’m training. I’m getting ready. This is all I want. It’s done and it doesn’t matter, we’ll figure it out.’ My team was like, ‘Well, that’s insane. No.’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah.’ And they were like, ‘OK.’”
Before she even had an audition scheduled, she started going into vocal and acting training to try and get into the specific way that Glinda sings. The prep happened while she was filming for The Voice.
Was the offer to come in and read for Elphaba (who is played by Cynthia Erivo) or Glinda?
She said that she “had a feeling in [her] heart” that she would be cast as Glinda. However, she said that she was “hearing really mixed things” about which role she would try out for.
In her first audition, she sang “No One Mourns the Wicked,” “Popular,” “Wizard & I” and “Defying Gravity.”
The first audition was all about singing, and the songs are performed by both Glinda and Elphaba. However, Ariana made it clear that she wanted Glinda by wearing all pink.
When she told Kristin that she wanted to audition for Glinda the actress “went into the bathroom and closed the door and started crying.”
Kristin told Ariana that she was “hoping this would happen” and that she trusted her implicitly.
Kristin‘s advice: “Just do your thing.”
The first reviews for Wicked are in… See what the critics are saying.
via Source
