Cynthia Erivo doesn’t mince words when talking about the challenges she and co-star Ariana Grande faced while promoting Wicked: For Good.
“We’ve been through some terrible things,” Erivo told a packed audience at the Saban Media Center’s Wolf Theater during the Screen Actors Guild Nomcom panel Sunday night. “I mean, even last week was crap, let’s be honest.”
The comments come just days after Erivo intervened at the film’s Singapore premiere when a man jumped a barricade and lunged at Grande on a yellow brick carpet. Video footage showed the intruder putting his arm around Grande and Erivo physically pushing him away as security removed him from the scene. Co-star Michelle Yeoh also helped comfort Grande after the incident. The man was arrested and charged.
In an emotional Q&A session moderated by Variety with other cast members (Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, and Marissa Board), both actresses opened up about how their roles as Elphaba and Glinda fundamentally changed them as artists and individuals.
Erivo, who plays Elphaba, reflected on her journey from being a drama school student to embodying the character that once gave her solace. She recalled finding safety in the music of “Wicked” when she was 20 years old and attending drama school, before seeing any stage productions.
“I had never seen that musical before. I saw it when I was 25 years old, and I took it on one date for my birthday, and I ended up being there in that place that made me feel safe,” Erivo told the crowd.
This role forced her to confront personal fears and experiences she had previously avoided, such as beauty, loneliness, and loss.
“I was afraid to see what beauty is when you look through the eyes of someone who doesn’t think you’re beautiful,” she said.
Grande became visibly emotional as she talked about how painting Glinda reconnected her with her art after feeling disconnected from it.
“I think the spark of connection with my work has been pretty much lost for a while,” Grande said through tears. “I fell in love with creating again and felt really safe and seen for the first time.”
The pop star expressed relief that audiences were finally able to fully understand the complexity of Glinda’s character in the second film.
“I’m really relieved that people will finally get to see and know and love Glinda the way I had to play her,” she said.
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 rarely get this close of people on set, and you rarely get this much family,” Erivo recalled.
Grande similarly called Erivo her “sister for life” and described their partnership as “without a doubt the greatest gift of my life.”
When asked about saying goodbye to her characters, Grande suggested the journey isn’t over yet, joking about Cher’s multiple farewell tours and adding, “These characters will always be a part of our hearts. They irrevocably and forever changed our lives.”
Wicked: For Good, the second chapter in Chu’s two-part Broadway hit, follows Elphaba and Glinda as they navigate friendship, power, sacrifice, and the myths that cement their traditions as villains and heroes. Many are predicting that Erivo and Grande will receive back-to-back nominations, making them one of the top Oscar contenders for the upcoming awards season.
Together, The Witches of Oz showed that their partnership was just as strong off-screen as it was on-screen.
