Cynthia Erivo didn’t mince words when discussing the challenges she and co-star Ariana Grande have faced while promoting “Wicked: For Good.”
“We have come through some shit,” Erivo told a packed audience at the Saban Media Center Wolf Theater during a Screen Actors Guild NomCom consideration screening Sunday night. “I mean, fuck even this last week, let’s be honest.”
The comments come days after Erivo intervened when a man jumped a barricade at the film’s Singapore premiere and rushed toward Grande on the yellow brick carpet. Video footage showed the intruder putting his arm around Grande before Erivo physically pushed him away as security removed him from the scene. Co-star Michelle Yeoh also helped comfort Grande following the incident. The man was arrested and charged.
During the emotional Q&A session moderated by Variety, with other cast members — Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode — both actresses opened up about how their roles as Elphaba and Glinda have fundamentally changed them as artists and individuals.
Erivo, who plays Elphaba, reflected on her journey from drama school student to embodying a character that once provided her solace. She recalled being 20 years old in drama school, finding safety in the music from “Wicked” before ever seeing the stage production.
“I had not seen the musical. I saw it when I was 25 and took myself for a single date for my birthday, and that place that made me feel safe, I ended up being in,” Erivo told the crowd.
The role forced her to confront personal fears and experiences she had previously avoided, including perceptions of beauty, loneliness and loss.
“I was too scared to look at what beauty is when seeing through the eyes of those who don’t think that you’re beautiful,” she said.
Grande became visibly emotional discussing how portraying Glinda reconnected her with her craft after feeling disconnected from it.
“I think that spark of connection to my craft was also pretty disconnected for a little while,” Grande said through tears. “It really felt like safe again to fall in love with creating and like maybe I was being seen for the first time.”
The pop star expressed relief that audiences would finally understand the full complexity of Glinda’s character in the second film.
“I feel really relieved that people finally will get to see and know and love Glinda the way that I had to play her,” she shared.
Both stars emphasized the lasting impact of their collaboration, with Erivo praising director Jon M. Chu and the ensemble cast for creating an unusually close-knit family on set.
“You don’t get a group of people this close often on a set, you don’t earn family like this often,” Erivo reflected.
Grande echoed the sentiment, calling Erivo “a lifelong sister” and describing their partnership as “absolutely the greatest gift of my life.”
When asked about saying goodbye to their characters, Grande suggested the journey isn’t over, joking about Cher’s multiple farewell tours before adding: “These characters will be a part of our hearts always. They’ve changed our lives irrevocably and permanently.”
“Wicked: For Good,” the second chapter in Chu’s two-part adaptation of the Broadway blockbuster, continues the story of Elphaba and Glinda as they navigate friendship, power, sacrifice and the mythology that cements their legacies as villain and hero. It’s among the top Oscar contenders this upcoming awards season with many predicting consecutive noms for Erivo and Grande.
Together, the witches of Oz showed that their partnership is as powerful off-screen as it is on it.
