Surprising truth behind ‘most devastating scene in cinematic history’ that left Wicked viewers in tears

Warning: This article includes spoilers for Wicked: For Good

It's been revealed that one of the most emotional moments in Wicked: For Good was not all as it seemed.

The highly-anticipated sequel to the Wizard of Oz spinoff Wicked: For Good finally landed in cinemas on Friday (21 November) to the delight of fans who rushed to the cinemas donning pink and green.

Starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the movie follows on from the first film, which was released in November 2024, and sees Elphaba demonised by those in Oz and transformed into the Wicked Witch Of The West, as she is known in L Frank Baum’s novel about the fantastical world.

Since it was released, fans have been discussing their favourite moments, non-stop listening to the soundtrack, and watching interviews from the cast.

And it turns out that one moment in particular that fans have dubbed as 'devastating,' 'powerful,' and 'moving' was actually completely improvised.

Wicked: For Good was finally released on Friday (Universal)

That's right, we're talking about the climatic door moment during the final scene where Ariana and Cynthia perform the film's titular song, 'For Good'.

The scene turns into a hurried and heart wrenching goodbye between Glinda and Elphaba as the witch hunters descend on Elphaba's hideout.

Elphaba then tells Glinda she has to go now, who asks: "What's going on?"

Erivo's character then says: "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine," before hurrying Glinda away and finds a closet for her to hide in, where they each say 'I love you' before the door closes.

Kyle Buchanan, a reporter at the New York Times, has revealed that the movie's director, Jon M. Chu, told him it was improvised.

Sharing quotes from their interview on Twitter, he wrote that Chu said: "Holy s***. That was in rehearsal. They sang 'For Good' and I didn't call cut and they just kept acting it because that's what they do. They just ad libbed this thing: There was no real doo, but they pretended to close the door."

He recalled: "They're giving each other strength through the difficulty of saying goodbye to someone you love forever, but then when that door closed, they could privately let it out.

It's been revealed that one of the most emotional scenes was improvised by Ariana and Cynthia (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

"Oh my God, I was like, 'This is what the full movie is about, is this moment'. And then when they lean their heads against the door! I felt like I was a witness to some divine moment of intersection, that God wanted to send us a message and these women were channelling it. It was out of body to watch that."

Cynthia has also spoken up about this moment, telling TODAY Magazine: "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 (Chu) just didn't stop us.

"That wasn't scripted. I said, 'Don't worry, everything's going to be fine' - not scripted."

She added: "The moment that I tell her I love her at the door, and she says it back, that was not in the script. That was something that we - that happened. All of that was sort of what she and I found in the room.

"We found out how we could say goodbye. I think both of us were just figuring out how each of our characters would actually say goodbye.

"Even through the song, there wasn't much direction. He just let us sing to one another. Tell each other the truth."