Will Ariana Grande be blonde in Wicked? Singer's hair transformation for the movie explored

After spending more than a decade in the music industry, Ariana Grande has established herself as a pop icon with one of the largest fan following among all musicians. The singer-songwriter has also always been ready to take up acting roles on the side whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Be it her teenage works like Victorious and Sam&Cat, or her cameo appearances in Scream Queens and Don't Look Up, Ari has always delivered her performances as an actor with just as much finesse.

In 2021, when the two-time Grammy winner was cast as Glinda, the good witch in Jon M. Chu's upcoming musical adaption of Wicked, Ariana Grande was fully committed to it and even dyed her hair platinum blonde for the part. Her character in the unreleased movie will be blonde, as its official trailer revealed in May 2024.

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Ariana Grande debuted her blonde hair on Instagram in 2022

On October 26, 2022, Ariana Grande posted a picture of herself on Instagram in which she debuted her blonde hair, with the caption saying, "new earrings."

While the singer-songwriter didn't reveal anything about the reason behind her hair transformation, her fans were quick to connect the dots and link it to Glinda's character that she was shooting for at the time.

In the past, all the actresses who have played Glinda on Broadway have been blonde, which explains why Grande ditched her natural brunette hair color for platinum blonde.

When the announcement of Ariana Grande playing Glinda in the upcoming movie was made, the singer-actress received well-wishes from many cast members of its Broadway predecessor, including Kristen Chenoweth, the first woman to play the good witch's character on-stage.

The 53-year-old actress congratulated Ari on landing the role in an Instagram post, further saying that she knew the NASA singer was "destined for this role," from the first day she met her.

Chenoweth further added that with Cynthia Erivo by her side, Grande would be "the best Glinda."

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Ariana Grande revealed she went "pretty hard getting ready" for the Wicked audition

In a makeup tutorial that Grande shared on her YouTube channel on May 13, 2022, the 7 Rings singer revealed that she started preparing for her Wicked audition as soon as she heard about it.

Ari, who was also shooting for The Voice at the time, said:

"So, I was shooting and then doing lessons every day because I just wanted to be prepared for when the call came. I had no idea when it was coming, but I was just like, ‘I want to be ready to go in.'"

She added:

"I know that I know the material like the back of my hand, but I still have so much to learn, and I want to be in prime condition, so I went pretty hard getting ready."

Grande went on to express her gratitude at being cast as Glinda in the upcoming movie, saying:

"And now, thank God, the most incredible gift of my entire life is this role that I've adored since I [was] ten years old and that is going to have every piece of me."

The Positions singer then stated that music would have to wait because she was determined to "spend all of my time with Glinda," further adding:

"And that is going to have every piece of me, every minute, every ounce of my heart, my time, my soul, my everything that I can give it, so my hands are quite full with a lot of other thrillifying work at the moment, and [R.E.M. Beauty] being a part of it."

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Grande's seventh studio album was released in March 2024

Despite her words in her 2022 makeup tutorial, Ariana Grande did start working on an album in 2023, when Wicked's productions were on hold for a while. Grande's seventh studio album - Eternal Sunshine - was released on March 4, 2024.

The album - which was inspired by the 2004 Jim Carrey-starrer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - was an immediate success, peaking at the top of Billboard 200 album chart as it opened. Its lead single, Yes, And? was also a commercial success as it topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart upon its release.

Another song from the album, we can't be friends (wait for your love), which also peaked on the Billboard chart, paid a homage to the movie that the album was named after, with Ariana Grande assuming the name 'Peaches' in its music video.