Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were the most popular stars on the Paris Olympics opening ceremony red carpet. All thanks to their iconic Wicked-inspired outfits, the co-stars defied expectations — and maybe even gravity — upon arriving to the venue in front of the Eiffel Tower.
While posing for pictures at the Friday, July 26, event, Ariana, 31, wore a sleeveless pale rose pink dress with a matching hair tie and high heels. As for Cynthia, 37, she selected a satin green dress with a matching hat that gave off major Wizard of Oz vibes while she and Ari stop in front of the cameras together.
The powerhouse vocalists and talented actresses have been promoting part 1 of their upcoming film, which is scheduled to hit theaters on November 22. During recent promotional events, Ari and Cynthia have sported looks that were on-theme with their respective characters. Ariana plays the role of Glinda, and Cynthia plays Elphaba, who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
Per BroadwayWorld, Ariana opened up about her preparation for Glinda during an interview in February. The Nickelodeon alum admitted that she had “never wanted something as badly as [she] did this” in her career.
“I worked every day with [my vocal coaches] to transform my voice,” the “Yes, And?” hitmaker said. “My singing voice, everything about me, I had to kind of deconstruct to prove to them that I could handle taking on this other person.”
Further adding that she “had to completely erase pop star Ari” in order to earn the part of Glinda, Ariana acknowledge her Broadway roots. She previously starred in 13: The Musical before landing her role in Victorious.
“I am a person who started on Broadway, and I’ve always been a musical theatre person, and I’ve always been an actress,” she explained, before adding, I’ve missed acting. I think having so much time with a character, instead of this characterized version of myself, it was really nice.”
Since landing the iconic role, which is based off the original Broadway version, Ariana insisted that she “really, really worked hard for it and my god, I am so grateful for it because it is the best, most transformative experience and special experience of my life.” As for how she relates to her character, the “Break Free” singer noted that she’s had a connection to the bright pink good witch since she was 10 years old.
“The funniest thing is the reason why I thought I loved Glinda since I was 10 years old is so not what makes us so adjacent to each other,” Ariana pointed out. “The high notes and the comedy and the pink and the laughs and the clown is like what I was attracted to when I was 10, but it’s so interesting that there is a lot more to it underneath the surface.”