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Ariana Grande<\/a>\u00a0always dreamt of being Glinda. On Monday, <\/span>Jon M. Chu<\/a>, the director of the forthcoming film,\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/a><\/em>, released a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, which included snippets of Grande and <\/span>Cynthia Erivo<\/a>‘s auditions.<\/span><\/p>\n In the clip, Grande recalled of her audition, “I went in for my first audition, and I just remember buzzing.”<\/span><\/p>\n “She was an Ari that I’d never seen before,” Chu said, before the screen cut to him telling Grande that she’d landed the role.<\/span><\/p>\n “Oh my god I can’t,” she replied through tears. “I love her so much. I’m going to take such good care of her. Thank you so much.”<\/span><\/p>\n As for Erivo’s audition for the role of Elphaba, Chu recalled, “Cynthia was so raw and vulnerable, and I couldn’t get her out of my head.”<\/span><\/p>\n When she learned that she had nabbed the part, she burst into tears, something that happened again when she looked back on the moment for the video.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s been a really long journey, and I’m really grateful for it,” she said. “I never thought in my lifetime that I would get to be part of something like this.”<\/span><\/p>\n For both Grande and Erivo,\u00a0<\/span>Wicked\u00a0<\/span><\/em>is a project that impacted them long before they got the chance to audition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I had the incredible privilege of seeing the original Broadway cast of\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/span><\/em>\u00a0when I was 10,” Grande said of the cast, which included <\/span>Kristin Chenoweth<\/a> and <\/span>Idina Menzel<\/a>. “I just felt an immediate bond. It’s always been the thing that I listen to when I’m nervous, when I’m needing an escape, when I need comfort.”<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Erivo remembered, “On my 25th birthday I took myself to see the show. I had never heard anything or seen anything like it. I remember that. It was a rainy night and I felt really alive. I felt like I was floating on air. There’s all of this innate understanding of what it feels like to be someone who’s different.”<\/span><\/p>\n Chu also long dreamed about being involved in\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/span><\/em>, which is set to release <\/span>a trailer<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n “Whenever anyone asked me, ‘What’s the one movie you want to do?’ If there was one, I’d always say it’d be\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/span><\/em>,” he said.\u00a0“It had a very personal effect on me. This is a very cinematic show. This should be on the big screen.”<\/span><\/p>\n “I want people to see\u00a0<\/span>Wicked\u00a0<\/span><\/em>and experience it in a way they’ve never experienced it before. I want them to feel what I felt going into that theater for the first time,” Chu added. “I want to make them laugh, to make them sing, to make them feel that, after they’ve watched it, they’ve been changed for good.”<\/span><\/p>\n When ET spoke with Erivo in December,\u00a0<\/span>she opened up<\/a>\u00a0about working with Grande on the project.<\/span><\/p>\n “She’s wonderful. It’s been really wonderful working together. We seem to have found this wonderfully easy rhythm together,” she said. “She calls it worming when we sing together because our voices sound the same even though we’re totally different. When we are able to sing together, it really works. We just sort of find each other, so it’s been lovely to work with her. It’s like finding a family member you didn’t know you had.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to Grande and Erivo,\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>stars\u00a0<\/span>Bridgerton<\/span><\/em>‘s\u00a0<\/span>Jonathan Bailey<\/a>\u00a0as Fiyero, Oscar winner\u00a0<\/span>Michelle Yeoh<\/a>\u00a0as Madame Morrible, and\u00a0<\/span>Jeff Goldblum<\/a>\u00a0as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0<\/span>Wicked<\/span><\/em>\u00a0adaptation is scheduled to be released in two parts.\u00a0<\/span>Wicked: Part One\u00a0<\/span><\/em>hits theaters\u00a0on Nov. 27, 2024, while\u00a0<\/span>Wicked: Part Two\u00a0<\/span><\/em>will be released on Nov. 26, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n