Cynthia Erivo seemed to throw shade at the actresses who auditioned for Glinda in the upcoming film Wicked, expressing her gratitude for Ariana Grande’s casting.
Erivo and Grande opened up on what the casting process was like in a recent interview with The New York Times, and the former implied the other women considered for Glinda’s role didn’t meet expectations.
Highlights
- Erivo subtly shaded other Glinda audition candidates, praising Grande.
- Erivo criticized a fan's Wicked poster edit, calling it 'deeply hurtful.'
- Ariana Grande praised Erivo, discussing their strong bond off-screen.
She said, “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with,” when asked about her reaction to the singer’s casting.
Cynthia Erivo took a subtle jab at the women who auditioned for Glinda, saying she was thankful Ariana Grande ended up being her co-star
Image credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Erivo, who plays Elphaba in the movie, told the outlet that Grande was the perfect person to play the Good Witch of the North.
According to her, it was “absolutely no surprise whatsoever” that the popstar ended up getting the role.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
“Oh my God!” the popstar replied, astonished.
Reports suggested Dove Cameron and Reneé Rapp were also considered for Glinda, in addition to the 31-year-old.
This interview comes after Cynthia Erivo slammed a fan for remaking the original Wicked poster
Image credits: Universal Pictures
Back in mid-October, a fan edited an image of the upcoming movie to further resemble that of the iconic WICKED Broadway Play’s poster, covering Erivo’s eyes so that they looked to be in the shade of her witch hat.
In response, the actress said, “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful Ai of us fighting, equal to people posting the question ‘is your ***** green.’”
She mentioned it was her choice to look “down the barrel of the camera” at the audience, “because without words we communicate with our eyes.”
Image credits: John Shearer/WireImage
The 37-year-old labeled the remake as “deeply hurtful” and said it was an attempt to “erase” her.
Grande spoke up days later in admiration for her co-star, saying the age of AI is somewhat “troublesome” and that we’re living in a period of adjustment.
She added, “I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much.”
In the past, Erivo and Grande have talked about their special friendship and how their connection will guide the movie to new heights
Image credits: Universal Pictures
The new film centers around the bond between Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda The Good, and their respective actresses pointed out how easy it was to get into character while working with one another.
Grande said, “These two very different women just fall completely in love with each other, and that is a mirrored experience of what happened with Cynthia and I.”
Image credits: Wicked Movie
Erivo agreed, adding, “We just sort of — I just got chills — we both just found each other, I guess. We just got each other immediately.”
Image credits: PopBase
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Wicked is an epic musical fantasy film starring Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and others, apart from Grande and Erivo. It will be released on November 22.
Some fans were not impressed by Erivo's "unnecessarily shady" behavior
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