Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Ariana Grande credits her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo with helping her to “heal certain parts” of herself.
Grande, 31, and Erivo, 37, spoke about their friendship in an interview with The New York Times that was published on Wednesday, November 6.
“I feel really inspired by her fierce ability to be truthful and protect herself,” Grande, who plays Glinda to Erivo’s Elphaba, told the outlet. “Just by being around her, I have become more of an ally to myself when I used to do a lot of self-abandoning, and I really do credit that to our friendship.”
Tearing up, the “Thank U, Next” singer continued, “Whoa, I literally promised myself in the car I wasn’t going to do this. Through spending this time with her and also with a character that believes in herself, I feel like I’ve been able to heal certain parts of myself that were in deep need of having a friend like Cynthia and a friend like Glinda.”
Grande revealed that she’s a recovering people-pleaser.
“Someone would punch me in the face and I’d say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m being silly, I’m doing a bit, but yeah, I had trouble listening to the voices that I knew were true for fear of being judged,” she said. “And I think that it’s a really beautiful thing to overcome.”
Grande has weathered many ups and downs throughout her successful pop career, including the bombing of her Manchester concert in 2017, the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller one year later and her 2023 divorce from ex-husband Dalton Gomez after two years of marriage. (News broke last summer that Grande and Wicked costar Ethan Slater were dating after her split from Gomez, 29, and Slater’s separation from now ex-wife Lilly Jay. Both actors denied that they cheated on their then-partners amid widespread speculation.)
Grande has supported Erivo as well.
Erivo, speaking to the Times, stated of Grande, “I don’t know if she knows, but she’s definitely changed my life. I think it was one of the first times a person looked at me and just was happy with what was there. I would tell her about what I wanted for myself as a musician and she just believed it, I think more than I did. I don’t think it was up until I met her that I was like, ‘Oh, I think I can have what I want in this lifetime, and I can have it in my way.’”
Erivo said that Grande “taught me to handle this crazy beast that is emerging success, because I’ve had a measure of it but this is new. She’s really held my hand all the way through it and wants it for me just as much as I want for myself.”
Wicked hits theaters Friday, November 22, and will be released in two parts, the second of which premieres in November 2025. Based on the beloved Broadway show, the movie musical follows the backstory of the witches of Oz as they go from rival college roommates to unlikely friends.
The films also star Slater as Boq, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Marissa Bode as Nessarose and Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond.
Grande called auditioning for the role of Glinda a “challenge” while appearing on the Friday, November 1, episode of the “Sentimental Man” podcast. “It has to be earned. Anything on this scale, being a part of anything, it’s not just given because they know for one thing,” she shared. “So, it’s fun to kind of have the challenge of reframing people’s perception and doing the work to earn your way back into the other spaces.”
