Ariana Grande Credits Cynthia Erivo For Personal Transformation On “Wicked” Set
Ariana Grande has found a lifelong friend in Cynthia Erivo, crediting her with a profound personal transformation. During a heartfelt conversation on the Podcrushed podcast, Ariana, 30, shared how her friendship with Cynthia, 37, has changed her life while working together on the upcoming musical film Wicked.
Ariana plays Glinda, opposite Cynthia’s Elphaba, in the two-part adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. Reflecting on their bond, she said, “I hope we learned a lot from each other, but I learned so much as a person from her. And she loves hard. She is a Capricorn, and she loves hard and honestly and right.”
The singer and actress spoke about the unique dynamic of their characters and how it mirrored their real-life relationship. “There’s something baked into these roles where you’re so different from one another that you never know how it can go when you’re sharing this experience in a very big way,” she explained.
Ariana praised their working relationship, describing it as “the most symbiotic, beautiful [experience].” She got emotional as she expressed gratitude for making the movie with Cynthia, saying, “to work with someone who is just absolutely in their own league of talent. There’s no one like her.”
She continued, “We somehow speak the same language and somehow we’re destined to do this together, and to feel safe every single day together and hold space.” Grande highlighted their similar yet different creative processes, noting that they are “both opposite and the same.”
Ariana deeply values their connection, saying, “To have the love that we have and trust that we have and deep love that we have for each other… I think it all kind of happened the way it did because of that, and because we were supposed to be in each other’s lives. I really do. I love her so much.”
Cynthia echoed these sentiments on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in December 2023, calling the Positions singer “the best” and stating that “she’s got a family member for life now.”
Cynthia described their bond as “special,” and spoke about their unique vocal chemistry, saying, “I don’t know that we realized that our voices would fit so well together. Our voices are very, very different, but when we sing together, it just works.”
