Wicked movie: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande hope their offscreen friendship shines through in beloved story

When Wicked premieres on Thursday, cinema-goers can expect a big-budget, no-holds-barred spectacle; a movie for which nine million tulips were cultivated to film the Munchkinland scenes, more than 1000 artists worked to animate 5100 individual feathers on the winged monkeys and A-list actors including Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum signed up for supporting roles. But at the heart of the film, adapted from the beloved musical, were its two lead characters — Glinda The Good and Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch Of The West — and their bond. For Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande and Oscar nominee and Tony award-winner Cynthia Erivo, who played those famous roles including performing their iconic songs, they hoped the loving friendship they also formed off-stage would shine through on screen. In STM tomorrow, the pair explained that being part of Wicked had not been entirely smooth sailing, as avid fans of the stage show, which had generated an astonishing $6 billion worldwide since it debuted on Broadway in 2003, were critical of the film, including Grande’s casting. But any fears were assuaged by the standing ovation the movie received at this month’s Australian premiere, which was the first time an international audience had seen director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation. “It was really overwhelming, we both broke down,” Grande told STM. “We broke into sobs, just because I think we’ve worked so hard to get to this place, and to be welcomed open-armed like that was just . . . wonderful,” Erivo said. “It’s been our secret for so long. Now we get to share it.” Read the full story in STM