After being changed ~for good~ by the nearly three hours of transcendent bliss that is the Wicked movie, I can say with confidence that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will leave absolutely everyone gagged — even their haters. If these women don’t win all the Oscars, I will be rioting. They ascended to new vocal heights I truly didn’t know were possible, and they both completely transformed into the characters (hence Ariana’s lingering Glinda speaking voice). That being said, there was a lengthy audition process for Wicked and lots of other celebs were in the running. I can’t really imagine anyone else playing Elphaba or Glinda in the movie now, but I was curious about who it might’ve been, so I did some necessary research: Here are all the celebs who almost played Glinda or Elphaba in the Wicked movie.
Dove Cameron
I love Ariana to death, but I do feel bad for Dove who was also born to play Glinda. In April 2023, the “Boyfriend” singer confirmed to The Wrap that she auditioned for the role. “I know that for everybody who did go out for it, it was a very long process,” she said. “It was one of the longer processes I’ve been a part of.” For a while, it seemed like Dove playing Glinda was meant to be since she played Kristin Chenoweth’s daughter in both Descendants and Hairspray Live (they really do look like mother and daughter) and Kristin herself even said that Dove would make a “great” Glinda.
But alas, that’s not how it worked out, and Dove is very supportive of Ariana. “She’s a genuinely dear friend of mine,” she told The Wrap. “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, as a fan, I’m really, really excited to see it.” She also called Ariana “a living icon.”
Reneé Rapp
During a November 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Reneé confirmed that she went out for Glinda. She gushed about Ariana on the show, telling Andy Cohen, “Ariana’s gonna be… can I cuss? She’s going to be fucking amazing. I’m so excited.” Spoiler alert: This prediction was accurate.
Amanda Seyfried
By now, you’ve probably seen the clip of Amanda singing “Popular” (or maybe I just spend too much time on Wicked Tok). She was another possible Glinda! “Last summer while I was playing Elizabeth (Holmes on The Dropout), on the weekends I was auditioning in person to play Glinda in the movie version of Wicked — because I wanted it that much,” the actress told Backstage in July 2022. “I literally bent over backwards while playing the hardest role of my life.”
Even though Amanda didn’t get the part, she found a silver lining: “I think it also taught me how far I’ve come as a singer, which I really wanted to prove.” Someone put this goddess in a musical, stat!
Taylor Louderman
But not everyone takes the high road! Taylor, who played Regina George on Broadway’s Mean Girls, did not pretend to be happy for Ariana. She posted a screenshot of the Deadline casting announcement on Instagram and wrote, “yyyy did I even audition or think I had a chance?! This business…you can’t care too much about any role you’re auditioning for (or you could get hurt & won’t come back) but you have to care enough to give it your all. I cared too much this time.” Yeah, it’s giving Regina George. Girl… maybe save this for the group chat??
For some reason, there’s basically no information about who auditioned for Elphaba. No one has come out and confirmed that they were in the running, so I’m actually dying of curiosity. However, our (allegedly) illiterate queen, Lea Michele, was interested in the role. When she appeared on Watch What Happens Live in December 2019, she was asked if she’d been approached about playing Elphaba in the movie. “That would be incredible,” Lea said. “I don’t think that they’ve gotten to the point of talking to people about it yet, if they have they haven’t called me. But, yes I’m, like, backstage painting myself green just waiting.” Given the fact that people have accused her of being racist, it’s probably for the best that she didn’t play a character who experiences racism!
According to a Reddit thread about the casting, Ariana DeBose, Samantha Barks, Anna Kendrick and Jessie J. were also in talks to play Elphaba at some point… but there’s sadly no evidence to confirm this. If you auditioned for Elphaba, can you please share with the class??
