Is Ariana Grande playing Glinda or Elphaba? Singer's character in Wicked movie explored

Ariana Grande was first announced to be starring in the upcoming movie adaptation of the Broadway, Wicked, towards the end of 2021. Since then, Ari has devoted most of her time and efforts towards justifying her character in the movie, from working on her vocals to dying her hair platinum blonde.

In the upcoming movie - which is based on the 2003 Gregory Maguire novel of the same name - Ariana Grande will be playing the character of Glinda, the good witch. The singer-songwriter will star in the movie alongside Cynthia Erivo, who will play Elphaba in it.

The official trailer of the movie was released on YouTube on May 15, within which it was revealed that Wicked would hit the box office on Thanksgiving 2024.

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Ariana Grande's character changes her name to Glinda midway through the story

In his book, Maguire reimagines the world of Oz as a more politically charged one, wherein Galinda, belonging to a wealthy, well-respected family, is popular at school, while Elphaba, with her green skin, doesn't fit in.

In the beginning, Galinda - played by Ariana Grande - spoiled with privilege, doesn't like sharing her room with Elphaba, mostly ignores her, and even joins in as her classmates make fun of her.

However, as the plot progresses, Galinda is exposed to the hypocrisy that's prevalent in both her university and the world beyond.

Her character reaches the peak of transformation after the murder of their professor, Doctor Dillamond when she symbolically changes her name from Galinda to Glinda - a name the dead professor mistakenly used for her - as proof of her commitment to bring about positive changes in Oz.

Her friendship with Elphaba also finds a solid foundation from that point onwards. In the later part of the story, a rift is caused between the two friends following the death of Elphaba's sister, Nessarose.

As the friends grow apart, Elphaba goes on the path of seeking justice while Glinda embraces her quest to make Oz better alone.

According to Pinkvilla, Grande worked towards transforming her celebrity image and redefining her singing for the moving. Talking about the transformation, the NASA singer said:

"I had to erase the popstar persona of Ariana Grande that everyone knows so well because it's challenging for people to see someone as a different character when they are strongly associated with one image. I had to completely strip that way."

Soon after the movie's productions began, the director Jon M. Chu announced that it would be released as a duology, split into two movies, on X.

Chu's decision was inspired by a strong reason, which he stated to be:

"As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of WICKED into a single film without doing some real damage to it. As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years."

It was in light of it all that the director, with his entire crew and cast - including both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande - moved ahead with the decision of the movie being a two-parter, further adding:

"With more space, we can tell the story of WICKED as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters."

During the course of filming the musical, its lead stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, also became close friends. On the sets of the movie, the two stars got matching tattoos to commemorate the movie as well as their bond.

When Erivo was invited as a guest on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show in December 2023, she spoke of the bond she shared with Ari, saying:

"The connection we've made is really special. She's got a family member for life now."

The other cast members of the movie include Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, Ethan Slater as Boq, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and Michelle Yeoh as Madam Morrible.

While the first part of Wicked will hit the box office on November 22, 2024, its second part is slated for release next year in the same month.