Wicked director says he can’t wait to “introduce the world to a new Ariana Grande” as he praises the pop star’s “emotional” performance

Prepare to see a new side to Ariana Grande as she makes her debut as Glinda in Wicked. According to director Jon M. Chu, the pop superstar’s performance in the upcoming musical adaptation is “emotional” and “comedic”.

He talks to SFX magazine about why he cast Grande in the new issue, which features Wicked on the cover and hits newsstands on November 1. “From the moment she walked in you could feel that she was the most interesting person for Glinda. It wasn’t Kristin Chenoweth [Broadway’s original Glinda], but it was Glinda. From the moment we started shooting she lived in the bubble of Glinda. I’m not sure she’s even out of the bubble yet! I was always talking to Glinda.”

The In The Heights director went on to praise her performance in the role, and why it might be quite unexpected. “She, of course, has the best comedic timing, but her emotional stuff which people don’t even know yet…” he pauses. “The fact that I get to introduce the world to this new Ariana Grande, that’s what making movies is all about. It’s like, here’s your new star, let me show you. You think she’s a star already but you don’t even know.”

Grande plays Glinda opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in the new adaptation of the beloved musical. The pair don’t see eye-to-eye at first when they meet at Shiz University, with Elphaba a shy wallflower unaware of her vast powers and Glinda a popular social climber. 

However, their friendship grows and after the pair encounter The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it reaches a crossroads that sends them in opposite directions. The musical, and its subsequent Part 2, which is out in 2025, sees the pair move ever closer to fulfilling their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

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Wicked releases on November 22. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Wicked on the cover and will be available from Friday, November 1. 

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