Wicked’s Ariana Grande Reveals Why She Used Her Real Name In The Credits

Ariana Grande decided to use her full, real name in the Wicked movie credits for a sentimental reason.

Appearing on the Nov. 4 episode of The Streaming Service podcast, Grande and her co-star Cynthia Erivo sat down to discuss the movie musical adaptation. During their conversation, host Justin Hill pointed out that the singer is credited with her “full grown-up name,” Ariana Grande-Butera, adding, “I wanted to know the symbolism of the importance of that for you.”

“Technically, it’s my little girl name. It’s technically little [Ari’s] name,” she explained of her full surname, which comes from her mother, Joan Grande, and her father, Ed Butera. “That was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old, and it felt like a really lovely way of honoring that. It felt really full circle.”

Grande continued, “I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba.”

Adapted from the original Broadway play, the Jon M. Chu-directed Wicked movie follows the green-skinned witch Elphaba (Erivo) in the fictional Land of Oz, as she befriends her classmate Glinda (Grande) and winds up on a path to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West.

Along with Grande and Erivo, Wicked also stars Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and Ethan Slater, among others. The movie musical will be released in two parts, with Part 1 arriving in theaters on Nov. 22.

Ariana’s Journey To Becoming Glinda

The original Wicked musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s book of the same name, debuted on Broadway in 2003 and starred Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda the Good Witch. Grande revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June that her mom took her to see Wicked on Broadway when she was a child, and she got to meet Chenoweth backstage.

“We got to Kristin’s dressing room, which was at the very end of the hall, and she invited me in and let me overstay my welcome,” she recalled, adding that Chenoweth gave her a witch wand and some “magical shower gel.” Grande continued, “Every single day, dipping a tiny little pinky in, and using a little bit. I really think it was magical now.”

During the interview, host Jimmy Fallon also brought up one of the singer’s past tweets, in which she called Wicked’s Glinda her “dream role.” The tweet read, “Loved seeing Wicked again... amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life!”