Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Santiago Felipe/Getty Images
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo can’t stop and won’t stop gushing about each other during their Wicked press tour.
“Cynthia is just an absolute brilliant gift of a human being,” Grande, 31, told Paul Mescal in a new conversation for Variety’s Actors on Actors issue published Tuesday, December 10. “I think we tried to keep the pressure out of the room, obviously, as much as possible.”
Before and after Wicked was released on November 22, both Grande and Erivo, 37, have been doing joint interviews promoting the special movie.
Many fans — including Mescal — have noticed the pair’s undeniable chemistry and viral moments including “holding space” for one another and Grande holding Erivo’s fingernail. Both actresses have also admitted on Today that they “cried through interviews.”
“I’m watching you guys in the press tour,” he said during the conversation with Variety. “You’re obviously in love with each other.”
Grande replied with a laugh, “Insufferable. Yes. We’re horrible. It’s bad.”
Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
The 2025 Golden Globes nominee proceeded to try and change the conversation to Mescal’s work in Gladiator II. The movie was released the same weekend as Wicked and was also a hit at the box office.
Erivo and Grande star as witches Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked. The first movie is currently in theaters, with the second expected to drop in November 2025.
To have one of the films officially out in time for the holiday season is a big moment for both actresses.
Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
“There are a lot of emotional things that happened, and we’re just going with it,” Erivo said to Entertainment Tonight in November to which Grande added, “You have to understand, it’s been like, three years, people! There’s a lot going on. … Why does emotional availability scare you so? It’s out of happiness and joy.”
While Erivo and Grande shared a special bond on screen, it extended well after the cameras stopped rolling.
The hit Broadway musical Wicked is being adapted into two films, and Cynthia Erivo loves that the movies expand upon the stage version. “What’s wonderful about the show is that you get an insight into why this woman becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, but you have only three hours to do it in,” […]
During an appearance at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival this month, Erivo was also asked about Grande’s previous comments about being bullied online. She quickly stood up for her costar and friend.
“I think cyberbullying is quite dangerous, to be honest, because it’s easy to be behind the computer and type words about a person you don’t know anything about,” Erivo said, per Deadline. “Be the person who tells the positive. What a person who has never met you [thinks] is never more important than what you think of yourself.”
Wicked is in theatres now.
