As Wicked: For Good marks its opening weekend, Ariana Grande took to social media to reflect on the journey of playing Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked films, which are adapted from the Broadway hit loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel.
On Sunday, Grande shared an image of a typed letter featuring her handwritten signature. Captioning the post, she thanked fans and wished everyone a “Happy wicked weekend.”
The letter served as both a welcome to the second and ostensibly final Wicked installment (it adapts the second act and conclusion of the stage musical), while also being a comforting farewell to her character and conveying how meaningful it has been to be a part of something she has adored since childhood.
Addressing the letter to “My Sweet Fellow Ozians,” Grande began the letter by discussing the deep lessons of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and more that Wicked and the land of Oz contain.
“Oz has been my safe space for as long as I can remember,” she wrote. “The characters within these pages teach us how to love unconditionally with one’s whole heart; to laugh; to forgive (even when it’s most painful); to fiercely protect ourselves and each other (yes, sometimes even from each other); to look inward; to be curious and not afraid of acknowledging our own wickedness in order to grow away from it and toward goodness, because we all contain both; to see the beauty in all things; especially the unfamiliar; to be honest, because to be honest is to be kind; and to fight for what is truly, deeply good . . . even if it takes us a long, scary walk down the Yellow Brick Road to discoverate what that means for each of us.”
She added that she first “fell in love” with Wicked when she was age 10; it offered her “an escape and a place where I knew I could find comfort and understanding throughout my childhood and adult life.”
Grande acknowledged that her adoration for the work and acting in the films are separate, unique experiences. “Loving something dearly and becoming it are two very different things,” she wrote. “Becoming your Glinda the Good and being asked to join this most wonderful group of human beings on a most creatively and emotionally fulfilling journey was the greatest gift of my life. I have learned more from my time with Glinda than anyone.
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“Now to see how it has moved and been there for you all in the same way that it has for me over the course of my life has been the most meaningful, moving, and cherished gift of all,” she continued. “You’ll never know what that truly means to me. I’m so thankful to have been a tiny piece of this bubble puzzle and to be your Glinda.”
She offered some words of wisdom and encouragement before signing off on the letter. “Before I go, please remember: Whenever things get scary or you feel alone, home is wherever and with whomever we want it to be, and there’s no place like home. Your chosen Ozian family loves you exactly as you are, and I couldn’t be thankfuller that you exist.”
Wicked: For Good has opened with record-breaking numbers, earning $150 million in North America and $226 million worldwide over the weekend. It’s the biggest start ever for a Broadway musical adaptation domestically — beating out the first installment, which raked in $112.5 million last year, per The Hollywood Reporter.
From Rolling Stone US
