Ariana Grande on what draws her to Glinda from 'Wicked: For Good' : 'Her emotional arc is my favorite thing about her'

Universal Pictures India (distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery) invites audiences to journey back to the Land of Oz with Wicked: For Good, arriving in theatres on November 21, 2025. Starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Jonathan Bailey, this all-new chapter follows the legacy of 2024’s Wicked - weaving a powerful new tale of magic, friendship, and love.

In Wicked: For Good, Glinda stands at the center of Oz’s fragile new order. Elevated as the people’s radiant figure of hope, she bears the immense weight of adoration while privately confronting the loneliness of leadership. After her once-unbreakable friendship with Elphaba fractures under the strain of divided loyalties, Glinda must navigate a world where perfection is expected and authenticity is questioned. As she struggles to uphold her image as “Glinda the Good,” she begins to wonder what goodness truly means in a land where truth is often silenced by propaganda and fear.

For Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good presented an extraordinary opportunity to explore Glinda’s evolution - from the enthusiastic student audiences met in Wicked to the complex, conflicted leader she becomes. “One of my favorite things about Glinda is following her growth from the beginning of Wicked to the end of Wicked: For Good,” Grande says. The two-film journey allowed Grande to trace the full emotional arc of a character whose light and depth have come to define one of her most powerful performances yet. “She spends the entire story searching for the true meaning of goodness, and that definition changes for her many times, as each traumatic event takes place, and there are many that she experiences, they propel her towards the truth. Her emotional arc is my favorite thing about her,” Grande continues.

More from Entertainment

Netflix ‘Delhi Crime Season 3’ Review: Not just Shefali Shah; it's Huma Qureshi, who steals the show ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don't’ Movie Review: Morgan Freeman and Jesse Eisenberg’s heist thriller is a fun watch

“At the start of the film, Glinda is the kind of leader The Wizard wants her to be and the kind the people of Oz expect,” Producer Marc Platt reflects on Glinda’s journey, and the film’s deeper themes of image, integrity, and identity. “She is lovely, charming and generous, but it is a hollow kind of leadership. Only the audience sees her private moments, where she begins to question who she truly is. Through that struggle, her humanity resurfaces, and she becomes the leader she was meant to be, one guided by compassion and conviction rather than image or expectation.” Platt observes.

Through music that stirs the soul and visuals that enchant the eye, Wicked: For Good explores the question: what does it mean to be “good” when perfection is the only expectation?

Friendship, magic, redemption - dive back into Oz on 21st November, 2025!