Latest News: Ariana Grande Stars in Wicked: For Good

Ariana Grande returns to the big screen as Glinda in Wicked: For Good. The highly anticipated sequel to 2024’s Wicked adapts the second act of the stage musical and includes two new songs written by Steven Schwartz, the composer and lyricist of the Broadway play.

In an interview with NBC’s Today in November, Grande revealed portraying Glinda has been “the most gratifying thing” she’s ever done. “I’m an actress and a person who loves art first and foremost, and the preparation started long before my first audition,” the Grammy winner said. “I had to retrain my voice to sing more operatically, which was a whole three-month, every-single-day training with my vocal coach.”

Her captivating performance in the original film earned Grande her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Golden Globe nod in the same category.

Beyond Wicked, the 32-year-old plans to stick with acting. While she’s still set to embark on her Eternal Sunshine Tour in June 2026, Grande already has roles lined up in the upcoming Meet the Parents sequel, Focker-In-Law, and season 13 of the popular FX anthology American Horror Story.

“I really am enjoying acting right now,” Grande said. “Whether it’s movies or being on stage or a little something here and there, I think that’s currently what I’m most inspired by.”

Wicked: For Good is now in theaters and co-stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.

Who Is Ariana Grande?

Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande is best known for the songs “7 Rings,” “Thank U, Next,” “Rain On Me” with Lady Gaga, and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love).” Grande started her career on the stage, landing a role in the Broadway musical 13 as a teenager, before making her big break as Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show Victorious and its spinoff Sam & Cat. The Florida native then dove headfirst into a chart-topping music career after her debut album Yours Truly came out in 2013. In total, she has released an impressive seven albums in nine years, earning two Grammy Awards in the process. Returning to acting and musicals, Grande starred as Glinda in the 2024 movie adaption of Wicked, which earned her both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. She returns for the sequel Wicked: For Good in November 2025.

Young Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande-Butera was born on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida to graphic designer Ed Butera and businesswoman Joan Grande. She has an older half-brother named Frankie.

Ariana took to singing and acting at an early age and made her way onto the local theater scene. When she was 8 years old, she began performing with the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater. Her first role was the title character in the musical Annie. That same year, Ariana also started singing on a cruise ship with various orchestras throughout South Florida. It was around this time that her parents divorced.

Her first major professional project came in 2008 when the 15-year-old landed the role of Charlotte in the Broadway production of 13, a play focusing on life growing up in New York City. The early role led to accolades, and Ariana won a National Youth Theatre Association Award. She also appeared in the musical Cuba Libre, had a small role in the YouTube series The Battery’s Down, and began acting in Hollywood.

Despite her theater and television commitments, Ariana attended high school at North Broward Preparatory School in Florida. She graduated in 2012.

Big Break in Victorious

In 2010, a teenaged Grande got her big break on the Nickelodeon series Victorious, about a group of talented students at a fictional performing arts high school in Los Angeles. Grande starred as Cat Valentine, a bubbly redhead known for showing off her acting chops and high vocal range. During filming, she had to dye her hair red every week, which eventually damaged it. The series ran for four seasons, abruptly ending in 2013.

After Victorious was canceled, Grande reprised her role as Cat in the spinoff show Sam & Cat, co-starring iCarly’s Jeanette McCurdy. Premiering in 2013, the series wasn’t on long before rumors began to swirl that Grande wasn’t particularly enjoying the experience. Sam & Cat quickly ended in 2014 after just one season.

While Grande’s role in Victorious transformed her into something of a teen idol, her interest in acting paled in comparison to her love of music. “I hate acting,” she told Rolling Stone in May 2014. “It’s fun, but music has always been first and foremost with me.”

Music Career

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Eager to pursue a career in music, Grande recorded vocals for the Victorious soundtrack and started uploading cover songs to YouTube. This caught the attention of Monte Lipman, the president of Republic Records, who signed her to the label in August 2011. Grande released her first single, “Put Your Hearts Up,” that December. The bubblegum pop song sampled the chorus of “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes. The corresponding music video, featuring a spray-tanned Grande in a hot pink gown, came out on Valentine’s Day in 2012. Despite this major step in her career, the singer wasn’t a fan of the song, later denouncing it as “inauthentic and fake.” Changing the direction of her music at the label, she began working on songs with a team of songwriters that better reflected her style as an artist.

In August 2013, Grande headlined her first concert tour, The Listening Sessions, and released her debut studio album Yours Truly just weeks later. The pop and R&B record showed a maturing Grande and featured 13 tracks inspired by such musical influences as pop divas Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Christina Aguilera. Receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and fans, Yours Truly immediately hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making Grande the 15th female artist to top the chart with a debut album. The lead single, “The Way” featuring the late rapper Mac Miller, was the record’s most popular song.

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