Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo see Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship as more than a bond between two characters: it is a story about finding connection across difference, learning to be an ally, and making room for someone who has been pushed aside. Their comments about the film’s Ozdust Ballroom scene help explain why its moment of acceptance has struck a chord with some viewers.
Grande sees the friendship as a lesson in allyship
In a Variety interview reported by Gizmodo, Grande recalled that when Wicked first appeared on Broadway, people in her life were already discussing its message. She said the story asks people to consider “how can I be a better ally?” and connected that responsibility to the friendships and allies “we’ve always been able to survive with.”
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That reading gives Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship a meaning beyond whether the two women agree. They come from different positions and make different choices, but Grande’s emphasis is on staying connected and learning how to support someone whose experience is not your own. She described that bond as a kind of sisterhood: care that has to be put into practice, not simply declared.
Grande also told the Sentimental Men podcast that “it really falls on Elphaba and Glinda to take care of each other.” She spoke about honesty, friendship, and holding space for Erivo during the Ozdust sequence. It is a performer’s interpretation of the characters’ responsibility to one another, grounded in the scene’s emotional demands.
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Why the Ozdust Ballroom scene makes acceptance visible
At the Ozdust gathering, Elphaba is isolated and mocked. Glinda’s decision to join her changes the scene: rather than leave Elphaba alone in a public humiliation, she steps into the moment with her. The gesture does not erase the cruelty that came before it, but it gives the two women a point of connection.
Erivo has said that viewers’ response to the scene brought her back to her own experience of being bullied. A friend once told her, “I just want to confirm for you that you were bullied.” Erivo said performing the scene allowed her to revisit, process, feel, and share that experience through Elphaba.
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In the same Gizmodo report on the Variety interview, Erivo said, “The thing that keeps coming back to me is how much people need it.” She also described the story as giving people permission to think they can help. Her account links the scene’s impact to recognition: a viewer who has felt excluded may recognize the hurt, while Glinda’s choice offers an image of someone refusing to let that hurt go unanswered.
The emotional work behind the performances
Grande described the process of playing Glinda as immersive, saying, “Maybe people underestimate how long we spent finding and disappearing into these women.” She added that some of Glinda’s inflections may stay with her. That commitment matters to the relationship on screen: the characters’ closeness has to be played with attention to their particular histories and differences, rather than treated as an easy, frictionless friendship.
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The Ozdust scene was emotionally difficult for Erivo. Grande compared that difficulty with the repeated filming of the movie’s opening image, telling her, “Much like how hard the Ozdust felt for you, that’s how it felt to light you on fire a million times in a row!” The remark referred to the demands of filming that opening image, not to the characters’ relationship.
The film’s wider journey also gives their connection room to change. The Los Angeles Times’ explanation of the film discusses how it develops Elphaba’s choices and her connection to her younger self. That context helps place the friendship within Elphaba’s larger arc, though it does not establish what viewers as a whole think about the pair.
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- Genre: Musical
- Number of Discs: 1
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Rating: PG
- Director: Jon M. Chu
Other cast members describe a love story rooted in friendship
In a Yahoo Entertainment cast interview, Grande spoke about truth, being oneself, and loving someone. Erivo said playing the women brought her a renewed understanding of being oneself. The original Broadway leads also offered their own interpretations: Idina Menzel called the relationship between the women the “true love story,” while Kristin Chenoweth spoke of friendship, love, and forgiveness as themes.
Those comments are distinct perspectives from the performers, not a single official definition of the relationship. Together, they show why the bond can be discussed in terms of love without reducing it to one label: the emphasis may fall on friendship, care, forgiveness, or the courage to be oneself.
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- Runtime: 138 minutes
What these responses say—and do not say—about fans
Grande and Erivo describe themes they see in the story and responses they have encountered from viewers. Erivo’s account makes clear that some people recognized their own experiences of bullying or exclusion in the Ozdust scene. That is meaningful testimony, but it is not a measure of how every fan interprets Glinda and Elphaba, or of how common any one reading is.
The Ringer’s discussion of the film’s vocal fandom, including its playful question “What is an Elphaba?”, offers another glimpse of how people engage with the character and her identity. It is one example of fan conversation, not evidence that a particular phrase or interpretation represents the audience at large.
The careful conclusion is also the most human one: for Grande, Erivo, and the viewers whose reactions Erivo described, Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship makes belonging and allyship visible. The scene asks what it means to notice someone being excluded—and what it might look like to choose connection instead.
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