Cynthia Erivo Was Relieved Ariana Grande Beat Out 2 Other Actresses for Wicked Role: ‘Thank Goodness’

Cynthia Erivo has been changed for good by Ariana Grande’s casting as Glinda opposite her Elphaba in Wicked.

In a joint interview with The New York Times published Nov. 6, Erivo, 37, said it was “no surprise whatsoever” to her when she learned Grande had gotten the role of Glinda.

“I said, ‘Thank God,’ ” added Grande, 31, after which Erivo said, “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with.”

“Oh my God!” said Grande in reply.

While Erivo did not name who else she had auditioned, Amanda Seyfried revealed back in 2022 that she tried out for the part of Glinda while filming The Dropout.

“On the weekends, I was auditioning in person to play Glinda in the movie version of Wicked — because I wanted it that much that I was like, ‘You know what? Yeah, I have to play the last scene of The Dropout on Tuesday. I’ll give my Sunday to you,’ ” said Seyfried, who didn’t get the part of Glinda but did go on to win an Emmy for The Dropout.

She continued, in part, “I literally bent over backwards while playing the hardest role of my life. But I think it also taught me how far I’ve come as a singer, which I really wanted to prove.”

But there was a time when it was possible neither Grande nor Seyfried, 38, would be Glinda. In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, Wicked director Jon M. Chu revealed he originally considered “no-namers” for both the lead roles, as the Broadway musical the film is based on is “a big enough property on its own, so we can discover two people.”

“But then we got calls from all these great actresses who wanted to audition and we saw everybody, and they were all really great,” said Chu, 45. “Anyone could have done this role, except there were two people who were meant to do this role, for this particular movie at this particular time.”

Glinda is the role of a lifetime for Grande, who has long been open about the character being one of her dreams to play — but that doesn’t mean she didn’t face insecurities over her casting.

“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,” the two-time Grammy winner said during a Nov. 1 appearance on the Sentimental Men podcast.

While she understands some of the backlash, given her primarily pop-star background, she said she attempted to “just do the work” and be “the best I can,” adding, “I tried not to let it derail me.”

Wicked is in theaters Nov. 22.