Cynthia Erivo says Ariana Grande outperformed two other actresses to land Glinda's role in 'Wicked'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Cynthia Erivo shared that her co-star Ariana Grande had to fight for her role in the musical ‘Wicked’.

In a latest interview with The New York Times, the actress shared about the audition the ‘7 rings’ star went through, and her confidence in the talented singer.

Ariana Grande reacts to Cynthia Erivo's praise

As Ariana Grande spoke about how she landed the role of Glinda, Cynthia Erivo added, "I said, 'Thank God'."

"Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with," she further said.

"Oh my God!" Grande responded, per People.

Though Erivo didn’t drop any names, it was Amanda Seyfried who shared in 2022 about trying for the role of Glinda, as she filmed for ‘The Dropout’ series.

"On the weekends, I was auditioning in person to play Glinda in the movie version of 'Wicked' — because I wanted it that much that I was like, 'You know what? Yeah, I have to play the last scene of The Dropout on Tuesday. I'll give my Sunday to you,'" said Seyfried on the 'Sentimental Men Podcast'.

Director Jon M Chu wanted to go with local Broadway stars for lead

Interestingly, ‘Wicked’ filmmaker Jon M Chu shared that he wanted to go for “no-namers” for the lead roles, but had to give in after several “great actresses” reached out.

"...We got calls from all these great actresses who wanted to audition and we saw everybody, and they were all really great," revealed Chu, adding, "Anyone could have done this role, except there were two people who were meant to do this role, for this particular movie at this particular time."

Earlier, Grande opened up on landing the iconic role, “I felt a little bit of the initial nervousness or the sort of preconceived notions about what I might be able to deliver or not deliver, or why I would be wrong or whatever.” 

As per reports, 'Wicked' hopefuls for the role of Glinda included Dove Cameron, Amanda Seyfried, Renee Rapp, and Taylor Louderman, the New York Post reported.

'Wicked: Part One' will hit theaters on November 22.