In the extravagant spectacle that is the two-part big screen “Wicked” Ariana Grande commands center stage in the conclusion. “Wicked” saw Grande’s Glinda sing the show’s hit single “Popular,” a paean to her innate goodness. While Cynthia Erivo’s green witch Elphaba was demonized as evil and hunted like an animal that deserved to die. Grande, 32, is a truly popular pop star but “Wicked: For Good” reveals her character as beloved but also a fraud. She’s willing to sacrifice her friend for “popularity.” Glinda’s not magical, just extraordinarily beautiful. To offer the illusion that, like Elphaba, she too has magical powers, Oz crafted a flying pink bubble that enables Glinda to soar above and around. No surprise Grande was ready to slip out of Glinda’s shoes. “We filmed both parts at the same time, which I know is insane,” she reported. “Like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we would be filming Part 1 and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we’d be filming Part 2. “So it was simultaneous and the shoes were on for what felt like forever. And,” she added, “in the best way.” Grande took a deep, deep dive into preparation, assessing Glinda’s history, a psychological profile and shared feelings. “For me, it’s all about the preparation. If you know the person from the inside out before you get there, you can throw everything away, forget about it and then respond honestly in the moment. “That’s my favorite thing! That spontaneous call and response that we do as actors. I loved the back and forth! It was a thrill. “It was also the biggest challenge, of course. As well as emotionally. But it was so gratifying. I just wanted to make sure that I knew who Glinda was as well as possible before we got there. “Even the things about her that you never see on the screen, if they weren’t talked about or performed, I just wanted to know. To make sure that, even in the first film, beneath the bubbly, shiny, perfect exterior her ‘bubble of privilege’ I like to call it there’s a person underneath that who has a lot of insecurities. “A lot of little wounds that contribute to her need for all of that external validation. “I wanted to make sure that they were always present. So I spent a lot of time mapping her out, and her childhood what did it look like? “It’s a beautiful privilege to play a character that has so much light and so much darkness. “We get to finally be able to spend some more time with that darkness in this second film.” “Wicked: For Good” is in theaters.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/22/ariana-grande-pops-glindas-bubble-in-wicked-for-good/
Ariana Grande pop’s Glinda’s ‘bubble’ in ‘Wicked: For Good’
