Ariana Grande responds to concerns about her Wicked casting: 'I get it'

As a Wicked fan, Ariana Grande understands why some people may have reservations about her casting as Glinda the Good Witch.

During a recent appearance on the Sentimental Men podcast, the Grammy-winning pop star addressed the debate surrounding her casting and whether or not she could fill the sparkly shoes of the witch. And listen, she gets it.

“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,” said Grande when asked about any trepidations after she was offered the part.

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For fans of the musical who may only be familiar with her work as a pop star, Grande said she understood where their reservations were coming from. “Going off of ‘Side to Side,’ I probably would’ve said the same thing," she said. "I probably would’ve said, ‘Why the f---? Kill me. I’ve waited 20 years for this. Kill me.’ I would’ve said that as a fan from the outside, knowing of only ‘7 Rings.' I’d say, ‘Well, that’s bulls---.’ So, you know, I get it.”

The pop star's casting received mixed reactions online after Universal unveiled the line-up in 2021. But Grande does have experience on both the stage and screen, having appeared on Broadway's 13: The Musical and starring on Nickelodeon sitcoms Victorious and Sam & Cat, as well as Adam McKay's sci-fi political satire Don't Look Up.

Grande had to tune out the noise and "just do the work" and be "the best I can," she said on the podcast. "I tried not to let it derail me."

In theaters Nov. 22, the first installment of the two-part Wicked tells the origin story of Grande's Glinda and Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) during their schooling days at Shiz University. Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, and Bowen Yang are among the starry cast of the Wizard of Oz prequel story.

If early reviews are any indication, those with reservations about Grande's performance need not worry, for she and Erivo "will blow you away," says one critic. Another calls Glinda "the role Ariana Grande was born to play."

For more tales from Oz, watch Grande's podcast interview above.