Ariana Grande Says She Advised ‘Wicked’ Rivals Auditioning for Same Role

Ariana Grande is working on her boundaries.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress shared that during the audition process for Wicked, she became so consumed with landing the role that… she began advising her competitors. She told the publication that she would divulge her song choices, schedule, and sometimes even rehearsal times with her vocal coach Eric Vetro. Her mother, said Grande, would react accordingly: “She was just like, ‘Wait, you did what?! You went to Eric’s house with who?’ ” said Grande. “And I was like, ‘Why not?’ And she was like, ‘My God, Ariana!’ ”

While Grande ultimately landed the role of her dreams, Glinda the good witch, and has garnered an Oscar nomination for her performance, her competition for the spot reportedly included the likes of Reneé Rapp to Amanda Seyfried. Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo, is also up for Best Actress, while Wicked has gone on to receive several other Academy Award nods including Best Picture.

Earlier this week, Grande opened up about navigating fame as a teen and introducing contractual health resources to Marc Maron in a podcast episode. The artist, who starred in Nickelodeon’s Victorious and spinoff series Sam and Cat, advocated for “non-negotiable” weekly therapy sessions for young performers.

“It’s so important that these record labels, these studios, these TV studios, these big production companies make it a part of the contract when you sign on to do something that’s going to change your life in that way, on that scale,” Grande said at the time. “You need a therapist to be seeing several times a week.”