Ariana Grande created emotional ‘triggers’ to avoid her own ‘pain’ during Wicked

By Lauren Del Fabbro, PA Entertainment Reporter

Popstar Ariana Grande has said she invented “triggers” to avoid “referencing” her own “pain” during emotional scenes in Wicked: For Good.

Grande, 32, portrays Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, alongside Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey, a role which has earned her an Oscar nomination.

The singer and actress spoke about some of the more emotional scenes she performed in the recently released sequel, Wicked: For Good, adding that some of the film’s themes felt “adjacent” to her life.

Speaking to actor Adam Sandler on Variety’s Actors on Actors, Grande said: “I’m a crier in life, but it’s not as easy when you’re performing. It’s not a party trick.

“I invented triggers for Glinda so that I didn’t have to touch on my own, because certain themes in this film are so adjacent to my life.

“I had to design her pain so I didn’t need to reference my own.”

The sequel picks up where the first film left off, covering the years after green witch Elphaba (Erivo) parted ways with her friend Glinda (Grande), and demonised by those in Oz who referred to her as The Wicked Witch Of The West, as she is known in L Frank Baum’s novel about the fantastical world.

One of the scenes in the film, which moved Sandler, was when Boq, a Munchkin man played by Ethan Slater, was transformed by Elphaba into the Tin Man, in an attempt to save his life after a failed spell cast by Nessarose Thropp (Marissa Bode) nearly killed him.

Grande said: “It’s a very painful moment and it’s performed beautifully.

“It’s so important to see these humanising moments for these villains, these terrible people. That’s the beautiful thing about Wicked, it shows how perpetrators of evilness were once victims themselves.”

Grande is also known for her popstar career, with hit songs such as Problem, Thank U Next, and 7 Rings, and has two Grammys to her name.

She rose to fame after starring in the hit Nickelodeon series Victorious and its spin-off Sam and Cat. Her music career took off in 2013 after the release of her debut album, Yours Truly.

She will set off on her The Eternal Sunshine tour in June, with performances scheduled in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago and Montreal before wrapping up with five shows at London’s O2 arena in August.