“Wicked: For Good” : Press Conference With Star Ariana Grande

Item: "Wicked: For Good" : Press Conference With Star Ariana Grande
Author: Adriano Ercolani

by Adriano Ercolani

@Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Wicked : For Food : Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity.

Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Oscar® winner Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard. As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Olivier award winner and Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart.

The aftershocks will transform Boq (Tony nominee Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives. As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.

Director : Jon M. Chu

Producer : Marc Platt, David Stone

Screenwriter : Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox

Distributor : Universal Pictures

Production Co : Marc Platt Productions

Rating : PG (Some Suggestive Material|Action/Violence|Thematic Material)

Genre : Kids & Family, Musical, Fantasy, Adventure

Original Language : English

Release Date (Theaters) : Nov 21, 2025, Wide

Box Office (Gross USA) : $297.6M

Runtime : 2h 17m

@Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Q: How did your approach to Glinda evolve from the first film to ‘Wicked: For Good’? Were there layers you didn’t expect to find, until stepping back into her shoes again?

ARIANA GRANDE: Well, the shoes kind of didn’t come off, because we filmed both at the same time, which is insane. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of the week we would be filming part one, and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we’d be filming part two, so it was simultaneous. The shoes were on for what felt like forever, and in the best way. I just wanted to make sure that I knew who she was as well as possible before we even got there. Even things about her that you never got to see on screen: if they weren’t referenced in a scene, if they weren’t talked about or performed.

I just wanted to make sure that, even in the first film, beneath the bubbly, shiny, perfect exterior, behind her bubble of privilege there’s a person underneath that has a lot of insecurities, a lot of little wounds that contribute to her need for all of that external validation. I wanted to make sure that it was always present, so I spent a lot of time mapping her out: it’s a privilege to play a character that has so much light and so much darkness, and to finally be able to get to spend some more time with that darkness in the second film.

Q: What was for you as a performer to film both of those at the same time? Did you embrace that, was there a rush to that experience versus like making a movie and then making a sequel a few years later?

ARIANA GRANDE: I really enjoyed it. I love the work. I liked going back and forth, even on days when you had no idea what the next day was going to be. For example one day we were supposed to be outside at Munchkin Land, doing something completely different, and we ended up shooting ‘For Good,’ this emotional climax of the movie, on a random day. I remember I loved that so much, because for me it’s all about the preparation. If you know the person from the inside out before you get there, you can throw everything away, forget about it and then respond honestly in the moment, and that’s my favourite thing: that spontaneous call and response that we do as actors. I loved the back and forth, it was the biggest challenge of course, emotionally. But it was so gratifying.

Q: This performance required every bit of focus, effort, and soul. What did you keep in mind when it was go time to perform like this?

ARIANA GRANDE: I just wanted to make sure that she had her own set of human triggers, you know? Separate from my own. Made sure they were available for me, made sure they had been thought about. I thought a lot about her childhood, where those beliefs came from that were projected onto her. And also preparation. Making sure my voice was ready to go. Extensive vocal training every single day, for three months before even my first audition. So that I wouldn’t have to think about how the notes were going to come out in the room, I could just honour the honesty of what’s happening in the scene. Making sure that your instrument and your mind and body are all ready and available to you, so that you can navigate it all. Preparation, and human triggers. Giving her her own set of triggers, so that again, even if they’re not referenced, they’re just there. So that she can have her own monsters.

@Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Q: You’ve had so many emotional and unforgettable experiences while promoting both parts of ‘Wicked’: has there been a particular fan interaction or a moment that’s truly stayed with you?

ARIANA GRANDE: Our ‘Wicked’ fans, all of them, are extraordinary, I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. I got to perform ‘Popular’ with a fan named Remington, on the ‘Wicked’ special that we aired, and that was so special: he was so cute, he was four years old. It was really special, I’ll always cherish that.

Q: Does it change your perspective on your craft when you see how many people around the world have embraced this performance? Does it change the way you look at performance, when you have so many people embrace it in the way that they did?

ARIANA GRANDE: It’s really overwhelming. It’s really beautiful. There’s nothing that you can do to prepare yourself for this response. I’ve loved ‘Wicked’ my entire life. I love it the way that they love it now. But you can’t assume that they are going to embrace you, your version of it, your version of this story the way that they have. It’s incredibly daunting, we had to shut that pressure out, for the process of making it.Try not to think that far. They are the best and most loving in the world.

Q: How was it to be able to craft your performance and the sound of your new song in ‘Wicked: For Good’ from the ground up?

ARIANA GRANDE: It was daunting and also so incredible, the privilege of a lifetime to originate a Stephen Schwartz song. Of course there’s a scary element, it’s a new piece. To be trusted with that was all of the right kinds of nerve-wracking, such an honour. What I love most about it is that it offers a narrative piece for her. I’m so glad that we get to see her experience that moment of change, to make that choice to begin the chapter of being truly good. Not performing goodness, not a façade of goodness. I love that we get to share that moment with her, because it happens in the wings of the Broadway show. To see that moment is a gift. From a sonic perspective, I love that she’s singing a little bit differently in it. Half way through the song, after she looks down the closet and sees all of her memories from, she really opens up, and sings vocally in a way that sounds like her guard is down. I’m proud of it, grateful for it, for her as a character, grateful for the opportunity as a performer.

@Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Q: ‘Wicked: For Good’ starts where she’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted, but she doesn’t realise that it’s not what she needed…

ARIANA GRANDE: She’s gotten everything she’s always dreamt of, and yet has never been more alone. At the beginning of it, she’s trying really hard to convince herself that it was the right thing to do. I think ultimately it was, because there’s no actual change that she could’ve made to the system, if she had gotten on the broom. She currently is in deep denial, which is one of the first steps of grief. She’s grieving her best friend, and denial is a huge piece of her puzzle at the beginning of this film. She’s very alone.

Q: What stands out to you about Jon M. Chu’s voice as a film-maker, whether that be narratively, technically, or a combination of both, that made him the perfect director for this immense project?

ARIANA GRANDE: He is as a person just as special and extraordinary as who he is as a visionary, as a director. As a leader. Those things hold hands perfectly, he just has such an innate understanding of the human experience. What it feels like to ma me you feel like you don’t belong. He’s able to navigate humanness. He leads with so much empathy, that I don’t think there was a better person for this. I think it was a part of his destiny.

From a technical standpoint, one of the things that I love the most, that also was really helpful when it came to making this particular movie, was the balance between his meticulous preparation And his freedom, his curiosity. His wanting to play, his encouraging of improv, just seeing what happens. He trusts his actors, he loves his collaborators. Every person who works underneath him is cared for, respected, thought about. He’s never impatient, he’s able to balance everything with such ease and grace and respect, that everyone felt safe to give everything they had at all times.

@Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Q: There are so many wonderful songs in both movies. Can you please share with us your process of learning the songs, practising them, and then recording them?

ARIANA GRANDE: I’ve loved these songs since I was ten. I needed to learn them in my own way, I needed to be able to bring my own point of view and honesty to them. That was a tall order. The thing that took the most work when it comes to the music for me was retraining my voice. I have always had a higher range, but I’ve never had to sing operatically. Glinda’s a coloratura soprano, it’s operatic, it’s classical. I needed to spend a lot of time retraining the muscles of my voice to know how to do that, and to create a rounder, more fuller, warmer vibrato.

Get there technically, so that it would sound legitimate. I really wanted to have that ready before my first audition. I needed to get that ready so that I could focus on the acting and let it all go, not have to worry about it. So I trained my voice for months before my first audition. It was an everyday process: I’ve recently gone back to listen to the early recordings of my first voice lessons, where I was singing the part. You can hear so much rasp in my voice. And then slowly, as each week went by, it would become purer and purer and more clear, sound more classical and more operatic. Achieving the legitimate tone of a Glinda voice was a really fun homework assignment.

Q: What advice would you give to the younger generation of actors who look up to you since the Nickelodeon era, and now with ‘Wicked’?

ARIANA GRANDE: I would say make sure you have a wonderful, beautiful support system. Bring your family, or your chosen family, your best friends along for the ride. Because sometimes what comes with your dreams coming true, being a performer, being an actor, can be really tricky to navigate. It’s important to A, have support, and B, keep coming back to your craft. When the noise is loud, come back to your craft. Go back to your acting coach, to your classes, read a script, read a play, write a song, get in the studio, learn a new tool, learn a different skill, teach yourself Pro-Tools, bury yourself in the craft. Don’t let anything disconnect you from what you love about doing this.

Q: Did your concept of good and evil change while making the film?

ARIANA GRANDE: I don’t think my concept changed. I love the question that this movie asks. It invites people to consider why those labels are projected so easily. People are the accumulation of all of their experiences, we live in a time where everything is erased of context and humanness, things are boiled down to a quick soundbite or a quick headline. Ask people to look for the humanness, or what might be on the other side. You never really know the whole story. I am so thankful for the themes of this, how it challenges people to look in a little bit.