Co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are about to embark on an adventure on the big screen. But in the meantime, they’re sharing their excitement in a new featurette for Wicked. In the video, the two stars discuss the narrative of the Broadway show, which director Jon M. Chu describes as a story of “friendship.”
The film will be a rendition of the classic show, which IMDb describes as “the untold stories of Oz’s most famous (or infamous) characters, namely the Wicked Witch of the West and her unlikely friend, Glinda the Good Witch.” The story follows Elphaba from birth to college and through life-changing events that eventually label her as “wicked,” introducing spoiled rich girl Glinda, local prince and heartthrob Fiyero, and even the Wizard of Oz himself.
The description continues, “As Elphaba, a passionate political activist if there ever was one, fights injustice and seeks to undo the mistakes of the past, dark secrets and personal tragedies shape the history of Oz, paying homage to the classic Wizard of Oz story while simultaneously changing fans’ understanding of it forever.”
With this narrative in mind, the two stars, who will appear alongside Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana’s boyfriend Ethan Slater, and more, have been able to grow their friendship both on and off screen.
During the trailer for the upcoming film, the 31-year-old singer reflected on her role as Glinda and her relationship with her roommate, Elphaba, saying, “These two very different women just fall completely in love with each other…and that mirrored the experience of what happened with Cynthia and me.”
The 37-year-old actress added, “We both just found each other, I guess … We just got each other immediately.”
As Ariana and Cynthia take on the roles of students attending Shiz University in the Land of Oz, these dream portrayals have been long-awaited — especially for the “Problem” singer, who previously expressed that Wicked is one of her favorite stories.
The first of two films will hit theaters on November 22.
