Ariana Grande appeared on the Shut Up Evan podcast and gave a spoiler interview about Wicked: For Good, revealing that “certain people” wanted to cut out the shot of the door separating Elphaba and Glinda after they say their final goodbyes. The two characters break down crying on opposite sides of the door. The image has since become a fan favorite on social media and has been widely praised as one of director Jon M. Chu’s most inspired directorial choices.
“It was a really heavy day. There were actually conversations…certain people wanted to cut that shot,” Grande said. “John was like, ‘This is the movie. There’s no question about this.'” I really appreciated how passionately he defended these honest moments. This is one of the most beautiful and connecting moments in both films. I’m so grateful to have that. It’s tough. It was very difficult mentally. ”
Chu previously told Variety that the door scene was not in the film’s original script and was added after Erivo and Grande were spotted having an impromptu goodbye during rehearsals for the film. When the two actors placed their hands on the imaginary door, Chu said, “I started crying.”
“I discovered it during rehearsals,” Chu said. “Cynthia grabs her and says, ‘Come here.'” So where do they go? And they go to this corner and she puts her in a box or in a closet. ”
The shot of the door tearing the characters apart comes right after Glinda tells Elphaba that she loves them, but there seems to be a rule in the Oz series that characters are not allowed to express such feelings, and Chu had to fight to uphold that in the film.
“You’re not allowed to say ‘I love you’ in Oz,” Chu told Variety. “God, no, it’s okay, no, I love you…[But when Ariana said that]it was very human. It crossed the boundaries of Oz and entered our world.”
You can watch Grande’s full interview on the podcast “Shut Up Evan” in the video below.
