Video: Ariana Grande Recalls Keeping WICKED Casting a Secret

Pop star Ariana Grande appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday to talk about her latest album and her highly anticipated performance as Glinda in the Wicked movie, arriving later this year.

She recalls being sworn to secrecy after accepting the role, which was two days before her last appearance on the talk show. "I was trying to subliminally tell you through the screen that I got it," Grande said to Fallon. 

"I wore this big pink choker thing. I was like 'Maybe he'll think that's the fact that I got it.' It didn't work..."

Fallon brought out a 2011 Tweet from Grande that she posted after seeing a production of Wicked, which made her "realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life!" before ending the Tweet with "#DreamRole."

Grande said that it is "just so surreal to see the response [to the trailer]. This is something that Cynthia [Erivo] and I lived every single day...And to share it with people and to feel the love that we've received in response has been really overwhelming."

Grande went on to praise the practical sets made for the film by Nathan Crowley. 

"Nathan designed these incredible sets and spent months and months building them. So what you're seeing is where we got to be for two years."

Watch the full interview, where she also talks about her initial experience seeing Wicked for the first time and meeting Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel!

Watch her performance of The Boy is Mine from her new album below!

The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. Joining them is Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard.

After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, Wicked makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining cinematic event this holiday season. 

Wicked: Part One premieres on November 27, 2024, the same day as Disney's Moana 2. The second part of the film, which is set to include two new songs, is scheduled for a November 26, 2025 release.

Photo credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC