Ariana Grande recently spoke about her casting of Glinda Upland. Grande has been vocal about wanting to play the role for a while since she has been a lifelong Wicked fan. 

Grande appeared on the Sentimental Men podcast to discuss the role. During the audition process for the film, she revealed the pressure she faced to get into character and leave her pop star self behind while filming. 

On the podcast, Grande stated “This is something I loved so much about auditioning for Wicked. It has to be earned. Anything on this scale, being a part of anything, it’s not just given because they know for one thing. So, it’s fun to kind of have the challenge of reframing people’s perception and doing the work to earn your way back into the other spaces.”

Grande has been involved in musical theater since she was 8 years old, so she understood fans would have high expectations for the person who filled Glinda’s shoes.

“I felt a little bit of the initial nervousness or the sort of preconceived notions about what I might be able to deliver or not deliver, or why I would be wrong or whatever,” she shared.

Grande acknowledged her critics have a right to feel the way they do saying, “Going off of ‘Side to Side’, I probably would’ve said the same thing. I probably would’ve said, ‘Why the f—? Kill me. I’ve waited 20 years for this. Kill me.’ I would’ve said that — as a fan from the outside knowing of only ‘7 Rings’, probably — I’d say, ‘Well, that’s bull—’ So, you know, I get it.”

Wicked is an adaptation of the highly acclaimed Broadway musical that centers on Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Glinda’s first meeting at Shiz University. However, once they have a chance encounter with Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard of Oz, things begin to change for the pair. 

Jon M. Chu is directing the film. Wicked is set to premiere Nov. 22, 2024 and the second installment is coming Nov. 21, 2025.