The Wicked film has had a long journey to our screens, with plenty of stars auditioning for iconic roles like Glinda and Elphaba.
Of course, it was Ariana Grande and Cynthia Ervio who landed the coveted roles, with Jonathan Bailey cast as love interest Fiyero.
The cast has become incredibly close while filming and on the press tour, with the yes and hitmaker saying she has ‘so much respect’ for her 37-year-old co-star.
Ariana, a long-time Wicked fan, was ecstatic to be cast as the Good Witch and her other half seems to agree she was the only woman for the job.
Cynthia was so thrilled that she even appeared to throw shade at some of the other women in the running to play Glinda.
‘Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with,’ she told The New York Times.
Ariana, 31, responded ‘Oh my god!’ to this brutal comment, after saying she had said ‘Thank god’ too about Cynthia.
The Broadway icon added it was ‘absolutely no surprise whatsoever’ that the 7 Rings hitmaker was cast.
The likes of Renee Rapp,Dove Cameron, and Amanda Seyfried were also in the running to play Glinda, although it’s unclear if these are who Cynthia is referring to.
Former Disney star Dove previously told The Wrap: ‘I definitely went out for it. I know that for everybody who did go out for it, it was a very long process. It was one of the longer processes I’ve been a part of.’
However, there’s no bad blood here as she continued: ‘I’m so excited for Ariana. She’s a genuinely dear friend of mine. We met when we were super young.
‘I think she’s gonna kill it. I think the whole cast is phenomenal head to toe. So, like, as a fan, I’m really, really excited to see it.’
Fans online pointed out it is unlikely that Cynthia is intentionally shading Renee as the pair have a mutual admiration and interviewed each other for Rolling Stone in October.
The pair did not reference auditioning together and appeared to have never met before at the time of the interview.
The Mean Girls star asked if she was ‘gassed’ for the rest of the year, with Cynthia responding she was ‘very excited’ for the film to come out.
‘You’re like a vocal bible to teenagers in theater!’ Renee told her. ‘I think that’s why I’m crying, because you’re so integral in something that I didn’t know I wanted to do, that I ended up doing, that ended up changing my life.’
Cynthia replied: ‘I’m blown away. The thing that I’m processing here is that the thing you are telling me is the thing I want to do. Now I’m getting emotional.’