Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good Universal
This article contains spoilers for Wicked For Good.
Actors going off-script can only really go one of two ways – but for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, it made for one of Wicked For Good’s most touching moments.
The two are currently on the promo trail for the much-hyped Wicked sequel, and now director John M Chu has revealed that the grand finale took on a life of its own thanks to Cynthia and Ariana’s improvisation.
Speaking to Today about shooting the final number in the movie, the titular For Good, Jon recalled: “That’s such an iconic song. We’ve seen so many covers, so many people do those songs.
“It’s the end of a two-movie series. How do you make it grand? Or feel like it earns the last song of the movie?”
His answer? Let Cynthia and Ariana take control, apparently.
“We’d sort of run through what it could be, and then right after the song where it would end, we just kept going, and [Jon] just didn’t stop us,” Cynthia explained during a joint interview.
The song arrives at the point in Wicked For Good where Cynthia and Ariana’s characters – Elphaba and Glinda, respectively – have to part ways, and it’s a tearjerker of a scene.
Cynthia explained that Glinda responding, “what’s going on?”, to Elphaba telling her she has to go “wasn’t scripted”.
“I said, ‘Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine’,” she noted. “Not scripted.”
“The moment that I tell her I love her at the door, and she says it back, that was not in the script,” Cynthia continued. “That was something that happened. All of that was sort of what she and I found in the room.”
Everyone who’s been following the promo tour for both Wicked films – intentionally or not – will know that Ariana and Cynthia’s close bond (and “holding space” for each other) has been a core part of the musical adaptation.
For that reason, director John gave them the freedom to work out how their characters would bid farewell to each other.
“I think both of us were just figuring out how each of our characters would actually say goodbye,” Cynthia said.
“Even through the song, there wasn’t much direction. He just let us sing to one another. Tell each other the truth.”
Critics have been divided on Wicked: For Good, with some finding it “exhilarating” and others deeming it “painful”.
Regardless of what they think, the film has been a box office hit, already raking in $758 million and becoming the biggest global opening for a Broadway musical adaptation of all-time.
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