Wicked director reveals brutal reason he originally didn’t want Ariana Grande to play Glinda

Ariana Grande, who stars in John M. Chu's cinematic adaptation of the iconic musical Wicked, almost missed out on her dream role - a fact sure to shock viewers.

30-year-old Grande quite literally manifested playing Glinda (who later becomes Glinda the Good), opposite her co-star Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba (later known as The Wicked Witch of the West).

Back in 2011, Grande tweeted the now infamous post: "Loved seeing Wicked again... amazing production! Made me realise again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole."

And while critics and audiences are in complete agreement that it was the role Grande was born to play, and predict that she will sweep awards' season - the director almost didn't give her the role.

During an episode of The Love of Cinema podcast, Chu admitted: "I was like, ‘There’s no way she’s prepared for this. This is a huge movie. It takes a lot of experience to lead a movie. She can sing, but can she get to the vulnerable part of Glinda? Is she funny enough?’

"And the moment she auditioned, she was the most interesting person in that room. But I didn’t believe it, so I brought her in again. And she was the most interesting person - I did not believe it.

"She had to do it a third time, and every time she proved herself over and over and over again, to a place where she was living [as] Glinda.

Ariana Grande stars alongside Cynthia Erivo (Saverio Marfia/Getty Images)

"When she showed up on set, she was Glinda. I didn’t have to direct her; I was just like, ‘Here’s a chair, jump over it,’ and she would jump over like Glinda. It felt like I was meeting this character in real life for the first time, and that the show was based on this real-life character."

Ultimately, Grande had to audition three times in order to convince Chu she had the chops to pull it off - and then he was finally swayed.

He continued: "She proved herself over and over and over again, to a place where she was living [as] Glinda. When she showed up on set, she was Glinda.

"I didn’t have to direct her; I was just like, ‘Here’s a chair, jump over it,’ and she would jump over like Glinda."

Playing Glinda was Ariana Grande's dream role (Universal Pictures)

Further explaining just how perfect she was for the epic musical role, he concluded: "It felt like I was meeting this character in real life for the first time, and that the show was based on this real-life character."

Grande appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 6 June, and he brought up her years-old tweet, telling her: "You did it!"

Grande gushed: "It’s just so surreal to see, of course, the response. You know, this is something that Cynthia and I lived every single day. The brilliant Cynthia Erivo.

"And you know it was ours for so long and it was just every single day for such a long time."

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