Director Jon M. Chu saw Ariana Grande channel something deeper in her performance as Glinda in Wicked. From the first audition, he realized that Grande wasn’t arriving as a global pop icon, but Glinda herself (via The Guardian).
She wasn’t the pop star Ari, she was Glinda. She was from another planet… something about the way she sang it, because she’s been through many tragedies recently, I felt she was singing about me.
That emotional push is exactly what led to her being cast in Hollywood’s biggest modern musicals. So, let’s see what all Grande endured to tap into the psyche of Glinda, and how she transformed her pain into the role of a lifetime!
A Closer Look at Ariana Grande’s Harrowing Past Traumas
Ariana Grande’s songs are all glam and pop, which might make people think that she’s had it easy, but that’s far from the case. To understand how she delivered an emotionally charged performance as Glinda, you’ll have to look at the traumas she carried into the role, and they come from two events that didn’t just change her as an artist but also as a human being.
The first was the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, which led to the death of 22 people. The tragedy occurred while Grande was performing, and in an interview with TMZ, she opened up about how it affected her.
It’s like people are permanently affected by this s**t and it’s just like, perspective. It changes everything, changes your life quite a bit.
While she had barely recovered from one incident, in 2018, the death of her ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, led to her spiraling even more (via The Guardian). He passed due to an accidental overdose, and left several others, along with Grande, emotionally wounded.
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How Ariana Grande Channeled Her Pain as Glinda in Wicked
Ariana Grande in Wicked | Credits: Universal Pictures
When Ariana learned she had landed the role of Glinda (via The Hollywood Reporter), she broke down crying and promised, “I’m going to take such good care of her.” When asked about this moment during an Extra TV interview, Grande admitted that playing the character was healing for her.
I think we have a lot of strange, similar traumas and pains that we’ve been through, and I think a lot of times in my life I felt really isolated in mine because they’ve been somewhat specific. And I’ve had so much love and support around me, but I think playing a character that made me feel so much less alone in them because they’re similar.
Movie NameDirectorProduction HouseIMDb RatingRotten Tomatoes ScoreBox OfficeWicked (2024)Jon M. ChuUniversal Pictures
Marc Platt Productions7.4/1088%$755 million
So, Grande allowed Glinda to give her the strength that she needed, and brought her own pain and suffering to bring the character to life. So, what do you think about her transformation into Wicked’s good witch?
Wicked is available to stream on Prime Video (USA).