Ariana Grande Admitted to Feeling Like a ‘Husk’ After Work on 1 ‘Wicked’ Scene

Ariana Grande has received much praise for her role as Glinda in Wicked and Wicked: For Good. While she rose to stardom as a pop singer, Grande said that acting is her new focus. She explained that she has loved the process of starring in a film, and cannot wait to do more of it in the future. Despite this, she admitted that working on Wicked was not always easy. Some days, she said she went home feeling like a shell of herself.

Ariana Grande said filming ‘Wicked’ was challenging work

In Wicked and Wicked: For Good, Grande plays Glinda. She said that the character felt uniquely challenging to her, even though she liked tackling the work.

“That’s why Glinda is such a gift to an actor. She requires everything,” she told Variety. “Even in the lighter, comedic moments, there’s someone deeply insecure underneath the surface. Across both films, there’s so much happening in her head at all times.”

She noted that filming the “split door” scene during the “For Good” number was especially difficult. She and co-star Cynthia Erivo spent “all day” working on it. Grande described this as “emotionally exhausting.”

“The hardest but most rewarding part is resetting every time,” she said. “Even though you rehearse and live with these characters, you can’t anticipate the moment. It has to hurt the same way every time and feel just as real. We would go home feeling like husks.”

Ariana Grande said she fell in love with acting while making ‘Wicked’

Grande said she grew up wanting to be an actor, and she’s taken great joy in every step of the filmmaking process.

“I really love being on set, but I also love the rehearsal process just as much,” she said. “I think I love and find both to be just as enjoyable, because I love doing the work.”

She also liked building her character into someone who felt familiar to her.

“I love the phase of the early days of getting to know the character and figure out who they are and what makes them tick and what triggers them, finding little pieces of information that matter to you as the actor that you can use and experience on set that don’t even matter for the film, but that you can pull on and draw from for your own experience,” she said. “I really love getting to know the little mental map of the person — that’s really fun. But also being on set, I’m present and I enjoy all parts. I do.”

She spoke about becoming an Oscar-nominated actor

Grande received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the first Wicked film. She said the nomination was a major honor.

“It’s incredibly surreal,” she said, adding, “It still doesn’t feel real. It feels like the warmest welcome into a community I truly love.”

She said that this acceptance has mattered a great deal to her because of how much she values acting.

“I love acting. I love actors,” she said, adding, “I love talking about acting and learning about other people’s processes — and my own. It’s life-changing, and I’ll never take it for granted.”

Grande recently received a Golden Globe nomination for Wicked: For Good.