Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz revealed that Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda in the movie, refused to make a hip-hop version of the Broadway’s hit single “Popular.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Schwartz, the composer and lyricist of the original Broadway show, told The Los Angeles Times that he wanted to revamp the 2003 musical’s single but was advised by Ariana to keep the tempo the same.
Recalling the moment, he said “In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let’s refresh the rhythm. Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit.” The pop singer, however, believed that switching up the song would change the main character entirely.
“‘Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda,'” Ariana Grande supposedly stated. She added that if the song were to change, it would have to be because Glinda is moved to do so.
Schwartz also remembered when Grande was reluctant about Wicked’s extended ending of the song. In the end though Grande was “wholeheartedly” on board after he insisted that the single’s add-on was something that Glinda would do.
The “boy is mine” hitmaker has vocalized in the past that playing Glinda was her lifelong dream. At first, director Jon M. Chu was on the fence about casting Ariana because he thought Wicked was “too big” to have a massive pop star in it.
“There was no way Ariana Grande, who had never led a movie, could do this,” Chu said. Although she didn’t gain the role initially, her persistence astounded the creative team enough to rightfully give her the role. “‘She’s so funny. She’s the most interesting person in the room.’ We kept bringing her back,” he explained.
“Set in the magical Land of Oz, Wicked follows Elphaba and Glinda’s journey as students at Shiz University, where an unlikely but profound friendship blossoms between them. However, after meeting the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their bond faces a pivotal challenge,” the logline states.
“Glinda, consumed by her quest for popularity and power, chooses one path, while Elphaba, determined to remain true to her values, takes another. These diverging journeys shape their destinies, leading Glinda to become Glinda the Good and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Wicked features an exceptional cast led by Cynthia Erivo. She stars as Elphaba, a young woman grappling with her misunderstood green skin while seeking to discover her true power. Joining her is Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist Ariana Grande, who portrays Glinda as a privileged and ambitious young woman in search of her true identity.
