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THE RUNDOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n Ariana Grande had a secret when she traveled to the U.K. to make Wicked: She was ready to leave her pop star days behind. During her appearance on Evan Ross Katz\u2019s podcast Shut Up Evan<\/a>, the singer discussed how playing Glinda changed her mind about her own music career, along with her decision to do a mini tour for her album Eternal Sunshine<\/a>, which she recorded while working on the film. (She said another tour \u201cprobably won\u2019t happen for a long time again after this one.\u201d)<\/p>\n The star began by saying Wicked has \u201cdone so much for Ariana. It has totally rearranged everything about my relationship to creating. I didn\u2019t think I was going to make an album ever again when I left for London. That was my secret, but I didn\u2019t think I was going to.\u201d<\/p>\n But embodying Glinda, who is such a confident character, changed Grande, too. \u201cObviously, you can take the hat off and be not in character when you go home for the day, but you take the feelings home and performing the act of Glinda, who is so sure of herself,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so even when the decisions are hard, I remember it early in the process, unpacking that a lot with my therapist because my brain really liked it. She had a connection to her gut that I think I kind of lost through trauma. <\/p>\n \u201cIt happens with trauma. That\u2019s okay,\u201d Grande continued. \u201cBut our work is to kind of like reconnect that. And I think through the act of performing it and Glinda\u2019s certainty and Glinda\u2019s belief in herself totally ignited something, a strength in me that I missed, that I really needed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I learned a lot from her as a character who learns so much over the course of these two films and has to look at herself in the mirror constantly and sort of peel away at the pieces of her that don\u2019t feel aligned. So I do think that I was kind of forced to do that alongside her.\u201d<\/p>\n Grande said touring and creating music are \u201cso self-focused. You know, it\u2019s singularly about the artist. And I think that that wears on my soul sometimes, especially because there\u2019s the caricaturized version of me that is the artist.\u201d She called her pop star persona a character just like Glinda.<\/p>\n Still, it was a part of her life she felt called to return to. She recalled the moment during filming when she was ready to make her own music again. \u201cI felt just a genuine spark of reconnection and inspiration and something. I mean, maybe I missed it. Maybe it\u2019s as simple as I missed it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I do feel like you have to miss things in order to learn how to become better for them. And I think I learned so much. And then also I genuinely wanted to do it. It just felt like I couldn\u2019t not. It was an inspired moment, and I had to write an album. And I had to do it. And they said, \u2018Well, you have reshoots in January.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Great, that\u2019s fine. I\u2019ll finish it before then or I\u2019ll finish it after.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That project became Eternal Sunshine. <\/p>\n\n
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