Hi I'm Ariana Grande hi I'm cyia Aro and you're listening to the sentimental men podcast visit bpn FM to discover more Cynthia arivo thank you so much for joining us on sentimental men today oh it feels good to say this is such a moment during the midst of like the craziest moment of the wicked press tour yeah yeah yeah it's actually nuts we we leave for Australia in three 3 or 4 days is that the First Premiere that's the first premiere gotcha and then you're just traveling the world yes how are you feeling in this
moment um I'm feeling really excited um I thought I would be more tired than I am I'm not so I feel like I'm sort of ready to to get going I say that now speak to me in two days um but I but I'm excited I think it's going to be really special okay so we start every interview with how did Wicked the musical come into your life as just a Person uh Wicked the musical came into my life when I was about 20 years old at drama school I was sort of like the odd
one out at drama school I always felt sort of different uh and a friend of mine or who someone who became a friend um his name is Michael pooy and he could play piano and I could sing uh and he spotted me and was like Hey you do you want to sing some stuff and I said well yeah sure so he picked up a couple ltos and one of those brettos happened To be Wicked so we went to a little room with a piano and we kept playing the music and I learned the music before
I saw the show and what were you singing oh the whole the the front to back we singing everything we I so when I say I KN knew the music I learned this the labretto we just went through day by day and went back and went all the way through often um so I knew everything um I think his favorite song I want to say his Favorite song was it was it the Wizard and I I think he kept asking me to sing that one but we sung it all um it was a tossup between
that and uh Dream Girls that's what we um and then when I was 25 I took myself on a solo date to see the musical in London and that was That's History so then 10 years later do you remember who you saw in London as alphab and Glenda I don't and I think I went to see the show not just to see the show but also because I think a friend of Mine was uh running the sound desk during doing that but I can't remember who it was I saw talk to us about that first
experience seeing it I immediately took to Ala because I understood what it was like to just sort of like be like different or not fitting in and I I know something went off in my brain and I I never I never forgot that moment I it was sort of one of those moments that sort of stuck with me I felt I said Before that it felt like I was I floated home cuz I couldn't I couldn't get the feeling out of my my head I couldn't get out of my body um I remember loving it
I sat in the in the the dress Circle what you would call the not the balcony but like the the the mezan um where the flying monkeys come into the audience yeah and I was I felt like a kid I was like oh my God what what's happening it's just it was one of the most wonderful experiences because I Felt like there was something I could I had recognized on a stage uh and it was something that I wanted to be a part of yeah at that point like when you're uh learning this music in
drama school with your friend and you're seeing the show are you identifying this as like this is something I want to do in my career you know I as an actress I want to be in the show I want to play this part I didn't Know if it was playing this the part but I knew I loved the music so I think I think the grander scheme of musical was something I knew that I wanted to be a part of my career for sure yeah yeah when I I think when I saw it I was
like oh I like that part there's something about that part that could that feels good that feels right yeah so then as you started building your stage career did the opportunity to play it on stage ever Come up in those years really never especially with the voice you have no I mean it never came yeah well there we now know there's a reason why it yes yes everything for a reason yeah so then how did it come up how did it come up to you the first time with this film um I knew knew that
they were seeing people for the film and I told my team to not say anything to me at all I don't want to know don't tell me anything unless it looks like it Might come my way other than that I was just like I don't want to know it don't tell me about it because I think a part of me was like if I if I just ignore what's happening and it doesn't come my way I I won't feel um that hurt by it because I think deep down I knew that I would love to
have been a part of it so I was like if I don't have if I'm not connected if I don't know anything about it then I can I can go on about my business I can like Prot yeah I can protect myself and I'm I'm good but um then then I bumped into John at some event and we talked and then we talked again and then who brought up wied I think he might have brought of wied mhm he said so we're doing this and I was like I know you're directing great yeah and I
think and I think we were just sort of like having a discussion about what I felt this person would be and what their Story was and this person meaning alphab and who she was and what she meant to me and what I could possibly bring to it um and I think he just took that into consideration and then we he went away and I remember we had a conversation the next conversation we had so ridiculously bougie the next conversation we had was I think the day of uh the the Met Gala so the next conversation
we had was the Met Gara two 2020 2022 or 2021 and I and I was in a hotel and I we zoomed and we just chatted about it and then I got then I got the the call to say you they want you to go in and I think I was the last person they saw um right like had you been hearing about other people going in for it at this point and I kept telling them just I don't care don't tell me please I don't want to know I don't want to know and they
were like they might call you in it looks like They might call you in I said well when they call me in tell me please and when they when they called me in it was I it was so respectful because they he called me just to do um it like a screen test but it was 3 hours I was there for 3 hours I I worked with two other actresses um scenes songs damn all of them which and I was so ready for it cuz I remember when I when I got the the sides and
the music I trained like a boxer so I Ran things thank you so much I ran whilst I was singing I uh would pay and like just getting movement into my body so I could be ready to do it when I got there uh learn this singing in the shower over and over again repeating everything over and over again reading these scenes over and over again because I just wanted to be when I got there I wanted to be so present in it that I wasn't really thinking about which words were coming out my mouth
which song was Coming out and I remember the day before I had a concert at Disney Hall this is the wildness of My Life um I had a concert at Disney with the LA philonic and gustava dudel um uh conducting and I knew once I finished I needed to get home very quickly because I was in the next day early this audition and I was I just was so ready to to go in and and show what I had yeah yeah so take us inside that first audition what were you doing and then how were
you feeling After the fact when I the first audition I I went in with i s I was just like ready let's let's go let's do this I think it was early we went through the music we cuz I I think I got there and I was on my own for a little bit before the first actress showed up we sort of practiced with The Pianist who was there that day it was very lovely I remember that and was no he was very sweet and like yeah like warm um and he played beautifully as well
which is sometimes Very rare in an audition like there was rush it was like let's let's play all the all the incidentals we're going to do all of that you know um and I remember thinking oh this is nice oh I can sing sing with this this is good so I went through the music with him and then the first actress comes in and then we start going through uh the scene work um and I just I remember feeling really present for all of it and there was a point where John asked me about my
relationship to Wicked and how I'd come to it and when I when I went to explain what happened at my drama school it made me really emotional cuz I think I it was the first time I realized I really did feel out of sorts at drama school like I really didn't feel like I fit in that place and this particular piece was a little space to go to that where I did Fit you know that's that's what this piece did for me whilst I was at drama school and so I think that it dawned on
me that that was what was happening at drama school and to come around to it at this point to do it this way just felt really massive yeah so how long was your audition process in all that day 3 hours that was it that was it one and done one and done wow and to be clear Ariana was not either of those chemistry reads she Was not no when did you get the call after that first audition I want to say it was about two or 3 weeks after wow that's fascinating cuz I think Ariana
told us about she had a thre Monon process she was in she she went in four or five times wow and so what were those two three weeks like after it was like I don't want to hear about it I don't want to hear about it it was hellish it was like when are we finding out for God's sakes please when are we finding out and I was in in the middle of what was I doing I think I was doing Luther at that point so I was in London like just waiting just waiting and
biing my time and figuring out and working it's just just the anticipation of like what is happening is it happening is it not happening have I got it have I not got it what what's what's going on I think what John I think John did both of us a favor I think John did the wonderful thing of Allowing allowing our to be to deconstruct the thing that has been built the person who's been built so she could just be in the room and I think he did me the service of giving me the chance to
to lose it it was mine to lose I think when he so the way he had set it up so when I when he bought me in I had all the tools I needed and I had the time I needed to be as ready as I possibly could be and so it it was sort of like it and run or leave it sounds Like you felt very safe in that room I did no I really did so then you get the call what is the first thought that comes into your head I have to tell
you how the call happens though because my team my my they dramatic just dramatic ridiculous and dramatic I get an email I get an email that says Cynthia we've got this piece of Ip and we think it could be really good for your production company you solom who's my production partner I Think we need to jump on a call at some point and then I get a text from my agent actually you know what Cynthia I think we should jump on a call like right now because now is it's going to go and I know
it's late there but it's not so late here but the the also is like ready to go and have a conversation about it it's 1:00 a.m. in London oh my gosh it's 1: a.m. in London first of all why does my team know that I'm going to be Awake why is that like an okay thing to ask they just know I'm going to be awake at 1:00 a.m. in the morning and they're correct because that's how I am so I read this email I'm like okay and I text back okay I'm ready and I'm in
my pajamas so I'm like but my pajamas don't look like pajamas so that's good we'll keep that on let's put a pair of glasses on let's go I'm ready so I get myself set up on the the sofa and if I just have like the you know right waist Up we're good it's perfect um and I put this computer on he's like get a zoom link Zoom link comes on John shu's name comes up it's 1:00 a.m. in the morning remember so I go maybe he knows something about the book I don't know then faces
start coming up on the screen I'm still not I still don't have it I'm like what is this let's I guess there's book to talk about maybe everyone's involved who knows all right Who's leading this meeting like nothing is nothing is connecting nothing's connecting and then John starts to talk about this girl who was at this drama school who felt like she was out of sorts and she would go to this room and sing the music and then she walks into this room one day and starts singing about this green girl and and I'm like
and now everything starting to piece together and I'm like don't play with me don't play and He goes and I don't know what planet you came from but I think the rest of the world should see more of you and I just I was lost it I lost it we want you to be our alphabet and I just I I don't even think I could F I couldn't be articulate all I could do was cry and in that like I have glasses on I put my head my head in my arms the glasses flip up
over my head I just am like all I could say is thank you very much because it's sort of like the culmination of so A dream that you didn't realize that you even had until you had to be in the situation of wanting the dream yeah it was the wildest moment ever I cannot tell you what happened the rest for the rest of the night right like was there banter on the zoom after did you hang up I have no idea I think we had a little chat everything was a blur after that I don't
know who I called after I think I called my mom it was 1:00 a.m. in the morning I was like it's 1: a.m. in the Morning I can't call who do I call yeah what time it how early is too early to call anyone like what I don't know if I slept that night did you know who your Glenda was in that call or did that come later I think I found out a little later after that call like that the same day that that it was Ari which did not surprise me one bit I
was not surprised at all I was deeply relieved because I knew it was going to be handled in the best way possible yeah That was like oh good fabulous that's what we do yeah I was like it was one of the most incredible moments to experience one of the most surreal things to experience so then what was the immediate excitement and also apprehension as you're coming to terms with the fact that you're about to embark on this journey the excitement I I don't think either one of us could fathom how how big this was I
think we Had an idea of the fact this that this was big but I don't think we really let ourselves understand the size it even seeing what it's doing now I'm like wow this is a thing this is a thing I love Wicked and this is a thing this is this is a thing and but every day feels like oh oh this is like a thing this is a thing yeah yeah you know when you you see people running to Target and grabbing Stanley Cups and fighting over Stanley Cups you're like oh this is a
Thing and someone you know a doll comes to a doll with your face on it yeah I mean Hello comes to you and someone says can you sign my doll and you go my face is on a doll I'm a tell Barbie I'm a tell I'm a Barbie guys you are a Barbie H my nose and my lips are on a Barbie like what is happening that's I none of us could fathom that this would be what it what it is right now I I went through times I was driving class times and there's the
most Ridiculously huge uh billboard combined with a huge moving billboard and a and a double and a poster of the both of us and then there's I don't even I've never seen myself that big in my life like what is that it's insane the whole thing is insane neither one of us could probably could possibly have fathomed that that was what was going to happen but I think we also what we did know intrinsically Was how special this thing was was we were both really clear on the fact that we wanted to not just do
a a good job but really take care of this like take as much care of this as we possibly could and and to do that we did the opposite of fanfare we sort of like went right zero in how do we do this what do we begin what do we need and that was that's how we've done this from From the beginning uh she and I uh knew we needed to come together first without everybody so she came to my house and we sat we chatted we just like were we got to know each other
and then we went to John's house and just it was him Winnie Steven Aris Steven Schwarz myself and Ari and we just sort of I think just John Johnny come I want to say maybe Johnny came and how does a conversation even get kicked off with that group where do you start John is really good at start like giving good speeches John is very good at like opening the floor gotcha it's his like it's like secret talent that he has so he's like so I wanted to welcome everyone I know we're about to go on
this big journey and he has like a table laid out of like our costume like because he' been working with Paul so Paul has like some examples of what the costumes might be like and we he has sweet sweet man he got little trays like Little yellow brick roads for us like like model yellow brick roads for each of us so we have that and we signed each one of us signed it so we have this I have mine put on a tray and like I've kept that and so we have it he opens the
floor up that way and then at some point in the day uh we have a dinner together so we all sit we break bread together and then in the evening uh AR and I sing with Steven Schwarz and the F that's the first time We sing together and the first time we sing together we sing for good and you've worked with Stephen before this is my first time working with Stephen oh really okay my first time working with Steph it's my first time singing with Ari gotcha a moment yeah wow b a big day big
day a big day but it was wonderful and I think that moment for for Ari and I was really special because it was the first time we had heard our voices together and we quickly realize That we it works yeah and there is nothing more wonderful than realizing that your voice works with someone else's it is really special especially if this is the first time you've sung together right we had not practiced we had not sung this before it just worked yeah were there tears oh yes yes I have tears yes there were tears yes
there were tears there was we were both speechless we didn't know what to say because it's an emotional thing to be Able to an emotional and vulnerable thing to have to sing with someone when you've not sing sung with them before you really do have to open yourself up to that person and allow yourself to hear them and you and allow yourself to be heard to combine your voices the way that happened and we did it immediately and that was really special I think that that moved us both it was sort of like an indication
of what the rest of this was going to be Like if we could do that without having done this before if we could do that with no practice if we could do that in front of a room of people no with nothing no makeup nothing then we could then we could really do this yeah you know you and Ariana have both talked about this PCT you made at the beginning of the process to protect and take care of each other can you talk a little bit more about what that looks like dayto day as you
go through this journey dayt Day it's sort of allowing we're making decisions together always making decisions together always moving together so it's never I'm never over there and she's over here we're always like in Tandem and if we if and and we were always looking out for each other as well so say for instance there was a if there's a a particular scene that needs a little quiet or I need a little bit of privacy or or or time and it's and it doesn't feel like that she Would take on the task of going hey
she needs quiet or if if Ari is in a particular because we both need different things to to to make the moment we both need different things to get us where we need to be um Ari needs contact uh when when when there's emotion so she needs to be close so i' just be there with her for a second and sometimes I need to be like alone to find myself in and she would give me the Space or if we're working on something and both of us need a break and it feels like where it's
running away from us both of us make the agreement should we ask I think we should take very should we ask then we ask together hey both of us would really love a break if that's possible you know sort of taking the responsibility to to work in the atmosphere together that's sort of it and and also just like being comfortable having Conversations because we we built this relationship not just for Wicked but for outside for for us as two human beings outside of this film but as like two women together so that means opening yourself
up to conversations that might have to come up things that you know if I I've had a bad day then I want to have the the the conversation with her and it's not necessarily the prettiest conversation but she's open and open for me to have that conversation if She hasn't had a great day and something's going on and she wants to discuss something and figure something out my phone is on or she if I need to come come over she has to come over whatever it is we're always there for each other not just for
the good moments but for the moments that are a little more complicated you know yeah that that means that there's a level of honesty and intimacy uh that allows for us to actually to make something like this the Intimacy is necessary to make something as big as this at least feel connected you know yeah and something that I think read so so clearly in your performance your joint performance is like the the love story of these two women it is a story about these two women learning how to love each other and hearing the ways
that you were taking care of each other off St or not off stage off uh not not in front of the camera it it all clicks it's like well that is so Tangible and permeable on screen I mean the it's like a daily of a daily rest to you know I mean I I we speak to each other every day if we don't speak to each other every day we we we will have text each other even if it's just like hey have a good day we'll just what's going on I have to do a
speech at something and I I was running it and checking it and rewriting and I wasn't sure about it so I I was like sry I've read it to her already and Then I had to go away and rewrite something else and I sent it to her like I finished it but she remembered I was writing the speech so she said hey I think you're finishing the speech today send it to me if you want let me let me have a read if you I want to hear how it's going so I sent her the
speech she read it she was like that feels good feels really genuine I was like there's no nothing that we need to like change no that's really great I like that I Love this and picking specific moments so it's like a true honest understanding of what I'm doing and music comes we were I while she was making her album I was making my album so I'm listening to her music she's been listening to my music I finally finished mine I've sent her the music she's listened to it she's come back with this is how we
function you know so it's true understanding of who we are what we need and it's an ongoing back and forth in life in General Cynthia can we talk about the filming of the ozdust scene just because Chris Murphy alluded to it in his cover story and when we were talking to Ariana she there seems to be like some sort like something feels feel important about the filming of that scene and I would love to hear your take on it yeah so when we when we started rehearsing it I think they they had had a dance
choreographed already and when we when we did it I remember thinking this Doesn't feel like her movement so I was like can we just start from the beginning and find out how she moves just find out what she does because I knew that I didn't want it to be her discovering movement for the first time I knew that I didn't want it to be her learning to dance I knew that I wanted it to be someone who understands movement but in a different way she's learned to move differently She's had different experiences she's been raised
in a different way and so hasn't been to dance parties but but understands movement but how own way it's very individual to her so we created something that felt like alphab and then I had questions about well why would she put the hat back on there has to be a reason why she puts this hat back on and then we sort of decided Well what if she decides to imbue this thing that when she first saw It she thought was beautiful she thought was different and strange like her could see herself in the Hat so
if we put take this hat off because of the H there's a choice to put it back on so what if you fill it with power what if it really does become an emblem of something that holds power maybe this is like the first time she casts something unknowingly but she does that and then that dance isn't just a spell to cast but it's sort Of an ownership of space uh an ownership of her loneliness an ownership of her heart and ownership of her difference and her separation and and shooting it was just painful but
in the most beautiful way because she has to be brave enough to do it in front of everybody she has to be brave enough to say okay fine I'll be on my own I'll do it By myself you know so she takes up this space which is a brave thing to do anyway and and places herself right in the center of it and there's a level of vulnerability insecurity hurt pain love that has to come to the surface when you do that and when we did it was deathly silent And I think and what are
you as Cynthia bringing to that moment I I just thought of all of the times where I felt like I was alone and I thought of all the times where I felt like I didn't feel seen and I felt I thought of all the times where you don't feel accepted in a crowd and you feel that you stand out but you don't want to stand Out I just knew that those are the things that she that would come to the surface for her and there is a particular kind of pain that comes from feeling like
you finally found someone who sees you a little bit and when it becomes a betrayal it's just hard yeah and I think that that's that final moment where she looks at Glinda is less of a less an accusation but why would you Do this to me wow you know yeah I I always feel like it was like a pleading of like what what did I do to deserve this you know yeah and I think I think in that moment they they really see each other it's when Glinda sees not it's a human that's a human
being it gets her a snap out of it yeah and that that moment Where ginda dances on her own and tries to do this dance I always think is the most vulnerable moment of like asking for forgiveness and wanting to connect and the first time alab sort of she says follow me and she puts her hands and waits that's a okay should we start again and that's when they start to discover each other and Ari didn't Ari Always wanted to to [ __ ] whenever we do the dance together she would try to forget it
she didn't want to over rehearse it because she wanted to learn on the spot so it was like teaching a person this piece her language fresh every time yeah thank you for sharing that that's really beautiful and it's kind of blown up how I view that moment in the movie now yeah and we weren't intending to take it wasn't like the intention to be like we Will not have any loves at all I just I just knew what I wanted to say for her right that's what I wanted to say for her yeah there's something
interesting there too with that take on the moment of alaba's ability to feel that betrayal but then easily choose to forgive quickly yeah yeah I think she wants to be loved as well and I also think that I think alab has this wonderful way of seeing past the The veneer she does it with Fiero she does it with Dr zillan she does she sees she in some some people it takes longer than the others but she does it with the wizard she does it with Madam maral she she sees past things you know she sees
what she wants to see because she's a hurt being so with Madame Marvel she doesn't see soon enough because she feels really accepted it's someone who wants her for her and it's like oh my Gosh someone they see me they they think this thing that I have hated my whole life is a talent it's a talent never heard she never heard it called a talent before she was sent away because it it scared people you know it was the destruction of her for a long time now all of a sudden it's the one thing that
makes her special yeah so she I think she's a little bit blind in it I think she doesn't see Madame marble for what she Is until it's too late well almost too late but with everyone else she kind of gets them she sees the The Thin Veil and goes past it something that comes up a lot with the actresses we speak to who do the role on stage is obviously how demanding this role is to do you are the only actress who has done this role on film so I would love to hear about the
just Logistics of playing alphaba on screen listic the the logistics of doing Alphabet on screen starting with getting green I guess we have we haven't talked about that yet so my my mornings CU we would we would often start early my mornings would probably start at like 3:00 a.m. in the morning I would work out because she is quite physical uh and there's lots of flying and there's lots of harness work so I needed to make sure that my body was ready to take on all of that um uh but I would so I get
ready in the morning I get in depending on when They needed me in the chair could be 6:00 could be 5:00 depends and I'd be in the chair from 2 hours and 45 minutes to sometimes 4 hours when we had full body it was 4 hours cuz we would sometimes have day um so anytime between that amount time and what is the greenify process so greenify process is uh we have airbrushing with paint uh it's like a it's like an alcohol based paint you would we'd have a primer first they made they made greens specific
to me so there Were greens that had my tone in in it so I there's like a highlighter yellow almost in the in that the the green airbrushing paint and there's like a a warmer yellow in the primer so that my skin tone would still come through to a point so it wouldn't so but the green would match me we tried a different we tried a bunch of different greens before we landed uh and then this green was made because the first green was had pink in it and it was too uh Chalky so we
needed something that was a bit warmer so it would match my skin tone and what we would do is put in the definition first with a deep deep like a dark purple almost black uh my cheekbones and my freckles I want to say my freckles will go on after so be have primer then the definition would go so cheekbones and freckles would go on um were freckles always a choice from the gecko freckles Were a choice immediately I I was like I think she should have freckles I think because there's something about the freckles that
make that makes her really endearing that and and it sort of opens up the face um and I thought that was a really cool thing to try and also it gave me cuz I I thought about all of the things that we associate with witches so it's like the W on the nose or the W on the W on the chin and what I what I loved was that I thought of those things As uh folklore so what was a originally a Beauty Spot became turned into a w right you know so you see all
these freckles and then there's one like that just is like on its own there's one that's on its own so when we move further on you'll start you'll see that more freckles appear but they're in different places interesting um as is with what would happen when when you grow older um and so we would we would again Prime put in our definition and the freckles would go we made a vacuum form of my face and poked the holes in the freckles where the freckles was so that the freckles would stay in exactly the same place
every single time brilliant so that was what we would do and then the airbrush would go now my head would be airbrushed because when you put the wig on my scalp also needs to be green right so when my hair moves around you see my scalp through the braids but it Is it's my scalp that is green which I love because it meant that it felt like it's all connected and the wig itself had tinted Green Lace so it wouldn't sh it was like it disappeared on my head um I didn't necessarily need to take
out my piercings now they weren't earrings like this but they were all flat studs so we had Prosthetics over my ears so we do Prosthetics to cover up the the the holes and the piercings so my the ears That you see aren't my they're my ears but they're not they're covered by a prosthetic that but the prosmetic is my color first so they would actually spray that to be the matching green this process it's really love the wig itself was always styled um and we we knew that we you'll see that there's like a little
baby hair there's like a little curly baby hair that's always in the front of my head we were very specific about that one kiss curl that tiny little baby Curl That was always in it sometimes it's facing this way sometimes it's facing that way but it's always there um but my wig um stylist and big maker worked together to make sure that the hair would change as we go along so in the beginning it's uh sort of in a side braid tight together and you'll notice as we go through it gets looser and looser so
then it goes to you know we have the rolls and that when we get after the after the ozdust and she's Been galifi I asked for them to give me a hairstyle that was galinda adjacent which is why you get that sort of like right and head down um and then when she when Fiera walks by and says you don't have to do that you know that role becomes this so it's like a proper Victoria Ro and then the rest is just like so she turn she she starts to find herself stylistically as we move
through the piece and that was something I knew I wanted to do grow her as we went along And the braids get a little longer and they get a little Freer they get a little wavier so there's more movement in it you're going to be stunning in the second movie yeah the way we're trending it's a thing it's a thing and it does it just it does change the trajectory of it is like it's moving towards something that feels Freer and Wilder and it's a lot and I love I love what we what we how
we grew it um none of the makeup on my face except for the definition is any Other color than Green Oh So eyeliner is green the Lash the eyes shadow green lipstick green lip liner green it's all shades of green but we found all the different shades of green so that we could find dimension in things and something I wanted cuz I was like what I want is it all to come from the shades that she like it's her so we used loads of different things we had like a green gel so Palms of her
hands were green but They still look like Palms right so they're not the same as the back of her hand they're very much like you know how your palms are lighter than the rest of you the green is slightly light and slightly translucent so my skin tone comes through but it's still green um we keep it coming I loved do I loved I love being involved in all of this so I would I would do my lips and my and my I would get in my eyes and stuff so they leave like my my lips
I would always do myself Cuz I love to be involved in like the shading of it and making that happen I would always do my eyeliner nails were a big part of this um I took the inspiration originally from the picture of Margaret Hamilton you know when she's to the side yes I when I went to I I've seen the picture many times and then I went back to the picture and I thought what am I seeing so I saw a couple of the film and I realized well she has she has Nails she has
a set of Nails and they're really long very long it's like well where does that come from that can't just like come out of nowhere so what do we do to make it feel like it's part of the DNA of her and it's just different enough for us to think well this isn't just isn't just like a full set of nails it's just some how her DNA does something to the way things grow so she has Nails um and so we we went through a set of different ideas of what the nails could look like
and then We settled on the idea that the it's just an extension of the green so the first time you see her nails they're just the they're sort of Jade esque they're um like a an ombre green that get lighter towards it and when she goes to um the Emerald City it changes because she gets they we see them get their nails done right and then they become darker on purpose because we're moving in that direction and that is also something that progresses to fall Yeah something lock away for for two yes um and then
John and I had a conversation about how far do we want to take the green how How Deeply into her DNA do we want it to be and I was like what if what if we changed my eye color so that it feels like there's just one more thing that REM moves her a little bit and so we went on a search for the right eye color there were these green lenses that were really pretty there Were a pair of Hazel uh I lenses that that were cool we had some lenses painted wow um one
with like blue like a blue irus but like a Hazel around it and the one was with a green and we tried them all and some of them felt too far away and you couldn't get you couldn't see through yeah see through to me he was like it kind of cuts the audience off it cuts us off and we want to see your emotion and the Hazel didn't transform enough so we landed back on The green because for some reason that green both let us in and held us at a little bit of a distance
so you know there's something different about her but also you can come in you almost forget you're green watching the movie yeah yeah yeah and I I kind of wanted that I kind of wanted I kind of wanted it to feel like oh she's been in this skin her whole life this is she sees this every day this is this is not novel to her no yeah yeah yeah what is the Degreening process every day um an hour and a half long you're doing this every day every day most of the time I would would
be the last person on set because I was still taking everything off oh my I could go home with any of it and if I went home with it I couldn't take it off myself so there's like a particular um uh like oil or Bal that takes all the green off I just and we would have full skincare the whole lot and then I would Go back because you would inevitably be left with like a Sheen of green so I would when I would get back home I would then do another wash to get it
all off did you have any skin issues through this process no my skin was the best it's ever been in my life Wow insane I don't know how that happened now that we are green now that we're green we then go into costume and the costume was layers of things right so it's like we've got uh sometimes if we if we were Under if if I had like man most of my sleeves were kind of like sheer and see- through you can see my arms and the problem with that is that if it's underneath and
it's rubbing on things then the makeup comes off so we created like a um like a netted top that went under everything that sort of stopped here where my where my makeup would stop if my arms were covered and so it was the perfect match of green to the rest of Me so you have that and then if we have tights on we we would have one pair of the green tights that match everything so there's like a body tight the whole thing before my my which I love my um fishnets the patent fishnets that
we that came on we have those and then I'm corseted all the time uh real corset no real corset okay ped corset before the shirt and before the dress or whichever costume went on yeah Yeah that was the that was The Vibes for the day and then if we're flying that day uh so we had loads of different cop copies of things we needed the the a copy of the costumes with pit points and pit points are basically uh costumes made with holes where the joins can come through so that when I put my harness
on they can also hook me to the wires right yeah take us into Defying Gravity you're shooting Defying Gravity today I'm shooting Defying Gravity um we have have A d first of all because we're moving through so much my dresses had to be fit often so we needed a fit me but we also needed space for my harness there are I think two or three different harnesses for different uh stunts uh the standard flying up and down easy uh is the is the the most sort of like easygoing harness and were you doing all your
stunt work yes okay and these these harnesses I have I still have my corset on I still have my Costume on all of that and then you put the harness on top of that right um and those need to be pretty snug because you're it's you're flying there's nothing you know flying which I found deeply thrilling um but those days were really interesting because once you're in the harness you don't want to come out of the harness because it takes forever to get everything prepped again and wires and whatnot so those days can be really
they Can be really big they can be really um exhausting because your body is being put through the strangest things and you're holding your bladder while you're flying around I don't go to the bathroom once I'm in my costume once I'm in my costume and and this is probably a terrible idea but once I'm in that costume and the harness is on I'm not doing it I'm just not playing I'm not I'm not dealing with it I'm not deal with it there's too many Layers I'm not dealing with it I'm not going to the bathroom
it is what it is okay if it's are we in the costume of 700 a.m. in the morning 88: a.m. in the morning great we'll be in it for the next 14 12 hours good luck oh my God I'll see you there I'm not doing it I'm not I'm not doing it so that's what that's what I would do I would like figure it out and that's what we're that's I'm not and everyone would be like do you need the bathroom no I don't Need the bathroom let's go again I don't let's go yeah let's
go we're in it let's let's go let's go and that's what would happen and we we would do these like I loved flying but it was you would the only time you would change the harness is when you would need to change into a different um well you're doing a different stunt and those days can just be really exhausting your body goes through a lot because what happens when you're flying is that if you have to do Something like there's a there's a moment where I do like Loop yeah mhm around that is not the
wires doing the loop the wires are taking me from A to B right I have to get my body over so you're figuring out where to place the weight and sometimes it goes horribly wrong and the legs flop behind you and you're just like I don't know how to do this and you realize oh I have to put tension in my hips and my legs as I bring it round behind me in order to Fly in straight so you just have to learn like The Arrow dynamics of like where things go I'm like who else
could have played this part this could only be you yeah well he decided that he wanted Defying Gravity to feel like a combination of all of the like iconic um uh superhero moves that you've seen so there's that one where I whip round across the the the the screen and that's like Spider-Man and then there's a spinner spin up which is like Wonder Woman and then there's the loop which is like super like all of those things he sort of like put together and that was like the that was the nature of the Beast like
figuring out how to do it all like all together and figuring out what the the Dynamics would be and that was like a long shooting process because we started that piece we started def find gravity maybe I want to say we did it in May April and didn't finish until January this year because of the an a Stke right well it is such a long sequence in the movie it's very much built out yes which actually how did that unlimited section what was the thought process behind adding that into the song what was his thought
process or my thought process into the song either I think he he wanted a moment for Alaba he he didn't want people to believe that alab was going to do it immediately he wanted people to root for her like she and I guess he wanted us to And I love the idea of her having to figure it out like this woman doesn't know how to fly yet she doesn't realize that she can she has to take the leap and when she takes the leap she has no idea if it's going to end terribly or if
she's going to indeed fly so when and we and he wants to give he wanted to give her a reason for finding her flight and that reason is meet like meeting her younger self and going and reaching out to her and going I I've got you each of The screenings I went to people gasped during that younger child moment it just yeah it takes the breath out of you that little girl she's so sweet so lovely and I I loved I loved seeing her little face and just like the Wonder in in it I remember
when I first met her I met her when I was in the makeup she was so sort of oh my gosh you know just in Amed and whenever we could have some time together if I if I paths cross which was not a lot but we got a little time to be in the same space together I remember we were shooting a scene where I and she hadn't seen me fly yet so so I asked if she wanted to see me fly and she was like yeah I want to see you fly so they bring
her in by the Monitor and it's just like a descent in so this is one of those I like the the flight the taking off and the descending cuz it was like really nice we found out Like what the language was and like how did she land and you'll see more of that that's coming did you get hurt at all through any of this only chafing and chafing sounds funny until you actually have it I mean like my skin on my hips was burnt oh oh oh just and it was like it took so long
to heal it just took forever you get bruised you get like I think or maybe I did get hurt and I just can't remember like I'm sure like I definitely had a a bleeding like a Bloody nose at one point like I don't know what happened can't tell you like broken Nails cuz even like landing on your knees and what not I I was fine with The Landings and the fall like I was totally fine flying was like that felt wonderful you you figure it out and the only thing was like like what what the
harness does to you after a long period of time CU you are in it for hours and hours and you are up right it's pulling on your skin Yeah Yeah it's You're sometimes it's pulling outward so you're the tension is in a weird space and you've got to figure out how to hold yourself but otherwise it's lovely I I really enjoyed what it felt like to fly and Caris Caris came in one day and they took her by the monitor because she wanted to see me flying and I as I'm flying in I hear this
little voice go whoa oh and I I kid you not you know when you have those moments of Oh that's why I'm doing it is it is that was one of those moments of like that's why I'm doing it because that little girl believes I'm flying she and she has seen me be taken up in these wires and it doesn't matter she believes I am flying and on top of which she knows that she's playing the little version of this which is awesome okay so hearing all that goes into playing Alpha a film yeah what
would you say was the most challenging aspect of It for you personally I mean it was all it's all very challenging because it's because nothing what I I used to say to Ari none of this nothing is a small day everything is a big day everything none of what you just said sounds easy no day was like a small okay we'll just no day was that every day was like something if it is it I'm not that girl okay that's a big day because it's like me on my own and we're in forest and it's
like right all of these elements coming Together and you know is it the Wizard and I that's not a small day it's like what and just because of the way he saw what this was to be you'll notice that she starts at the bottom of the school and ends at the very top of a mountain so he he makes her Ascend literally and then Sprint but she never fluts and then and then exactly and then she's like on it and and but she doesn't go over right she doesn't take the leap right up to the
Precipice of it that's not a small Day none of it I think that the I think it was sort of I think maybe the the hardest thing for me was to to not look at everything as one big task but to try to compartmentalize the moments that we were having to make because they're all they they all mean something they're all big moments and they all require a lot of us Emotionally I mean the All Star was really hard emotionally but then sitting down and talking about how her father hates her and then looking in
the mirror and being told that she's beautiful like that was an emotional moment and having to like how do we how do we vacillate so we don't tip so far into it that we can't come back you know because once we're when we're in we like where do we how do we how do we manage and measure how much She lets herself go and when you know cuz she's sort of like um reverberating with like hurt and pain it's like it's it's there so she doesn't necessarily live in it because it's sort of like literally
in her skin like it's on her it's always like at the surface so it's about how much do we give and how much do we hold and it was I think that was one of the things that I had to like figure out and like her rhythm she's not She's not she doesn't have the same Rhythm as me she doesn't sound like me you know so it's like managing what that is she's a little drer takes her time a little you know we've been talking about what we love so much about your take on the
role is she's not angry at the world like she accepts that this is how she's viewed and she's like made peace with that she's not holding it against anyone that's just it is what it is yeah I think that's like a really Special twist I but I think that came naturally because I I I believed that she's for someone who's been in this she's been in this skin forever it's it is not a surprise to her when someone is like do a surprise it does it hurt yes is it surprising no it's something she it's
this is an everyday for her so you can't be mad at the world if the world just is what it is you know it's something she's experienced her whole life and I think that she's also Experienced you know aspects like love whether it be from doar or her sister and she does love her sister and she does love D and I think to a degree she loves her father and wants love back but but if I just thought if she's mad at the world the entire time how does she how would she function how do
you how do you function past that and and also there has to be you need room we I want to get to rage because she Does get to rage but if we start there we have nowhere to go I want I wanted her to start with a little bit of hope I want I want whoever's watching to think oh there's hope it might not go as bad as we it might not go it might not go bad she might connect there might be connection and she does connect because if she was mad at the world
her and Fiera would not even it wouldn't happen they wouldn't cross paths she wouldn't Even give him the time of day he wouldn't give her the time of day they wouldn't they wouldn't connect at all and somehow they connect she can't be mad at the world if she cares deeply about these animals there has to be love there she has to have she has to have an inkling of things can be better and I can be I can be a person who can make things better I can be someone who who if from my experiences
if I know what it's like to be an outsider maybe I can Maybe I can change that for someone else you can't be mad at the world and do this do that you can be frustrated you can be moved by it but if you're mad at it if you're angry at it all the time you you how can you get past that okay we have to let you go but there are a couple more things we want to touch on um we talk about having Adena and Kristen on set because cuz there is a really
beautiful torch passing moment in The movie what was the behind the scenes of that oh that was the most it it was silly o' in the morning and when that moment happened it's like the sun was coming up and it was like like I think it was like 6 7:00 in the morning and we'd been going all night it was so emotional we both were like we were all really emotional to be in the space with these two women who essentially this was like a love story to them as well to the world that they
had put in all those Years ago and still they found the space and time to come back to this I imagine being the two of them and then being on set of this major motion picture for this job they did 20 years ago insane yeah insan I can't imagine what they were feeling but I know that what we received from them was really loving and what I what we've received from them since has been really really caring and loving and kind and I'm never going to forget having Adena Menzel fix my hat And send me
off in this film I will never forget it because it is one of those it it was one of those moments where the the architect says got this I built the building please it's beautiful and she's been so and I cannot I cannot say enough how kind and loving she's been the words that she has sent the things she has said the opportunity she has taken to to boy me to to to Encourage beyond beyond she saw the film and the words that she sent my way I like I play them to myself often just
put it that way because they were so kind and that moment I you have to know I had no idea she was going to say that at the Tony oh really I had no idea she just said she wanted to say something before we started that scripted thing I said you can say whatever you want you say Whatever you want please and then that's what she said which is why when you look back I look like a kid I have no idea what to say I like shoulder bump her and go I love you so
cute that's all I can say I had no idea she was going to say that I had no idea and it and I and she didn't have to to to hand off the broom so to speak in such a public way was like whoa this is like now I have a responsibility to make you proud As well like I really do actually want to make you proud like seriously I hope that I hope that when you watch this it makes you proud too and that that was these moments have been really meaningful and Kristen has
been so lovely I get like random video messages from being so kind and sweet and loving it's just like you there's nothing else you I can ask for like these are the two yeah and I'm so happy they're able to be a part of this movie well the two of us were not going to have it any other way I AR and I were really this is this is the thing that we were like if we're going to fight for anything it's this when are they coming yeah they told us about your wiard we see
you now line story calling [Laughter] John it's like that's the united front that's it what are we doing have We done it yet did we get yet every day so when are they coming in do we know what they're doing was it they were going to have a cameo from the get-go or did you have to push for that I think they they were considering but they then had no choice because we wouldn't let go gotcha when are they coming when are they coming are they going to be here today or tomorrow so wait which
came first them or the new section of one short day like did they Come on board and then that was written for them I wonder feels like that must have been written for them I think it was written for them but they hadn't cemented it and we were like cement it Hollywood Walk of Fame cement it we need the pavement the sidewalk needs to be set now oh my goodness all right I think it's time to ask yes are you a wizard and I I love this question are you a wizard and I Defying Gravity
or no good Alphaba it can mean whatever you want it to mean all we ask is that you explain why I cuz I knew I'd be asked the question and I'm going to and this isn't a copout by any means but it is because of the experience of this and I'm all of them because the Wizard and I is Hope Defying Gravity is a proclamation of ones self and and and exceeding everyone else's expectations and your Own and no good deed is at the ownership of your of your rage and pain and I can be
any one of those on any given day and have been and need to have all of those within you and need to have all of those within me I'm not ashamed of hurt and anger and pain it has taken a long time to get to where I am and that feels many times like I've had to Fly Above the expectations of even myself and The Wizard and I is something That is a hope and a bright light that feels like I I it has to run through everything you have to believe that anything is possible
all the time and if I didn't believe that anything was POS isn't if I didn't believe that anything is possible I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking about this that's beautiful we had our money on you saying I'm not that girl here's the thing I'm not that girl It's I love that song so much because it what I love about it is that it is she knows that she's so different and she might not ever be the girl that gets picked but that's okay and I love that because it's so true many times for me
it's really true often you're like I and I'm okay with being the one that isn't the one that gets picked all the time cuz when I am Picked look what happens I'm meant to be and what you do with that song in the movie is so singular and inspired really floored me thank you okay we're going to wrap with a quick rapid fire about you can answer with your castmates okay okay we're going to take turns we did this with Ariana and it was okay crazy chaotic and crazy yes all right um most likely to
be first to set Ariana most likely to be the last one to leave set Cynthia okay or Ariana Cuz she like to hang around but it would be me often most likely to option up during a song both of us most likely to take a Keepsake from set Ariana most likely to stay in character after the camera stops rolling I think Ariana but by default me I don't realize I'm still there but I am most likely to break character Ariana that's interesting or B B would uh most likely to get the shot in one take
Michelle Yo okay and the last one most likely to cry on set both of us Ariana did be like is this a bit the answer is me for every question we cried a lot she cried immediately and it would I would be like we have things to do but then it would come I would resist for a little bit and then it would all fall to pieces and then what we supposed to do we you know that set was we had tissues all over the place it would be the first ad crying John's crying I'm
crying she did say you all were a little lost in the sauce and that kind of everyone was staying in character oh my God it was crazy Jonathan ba I finished singing I'm Not That Girl and Jonathan Bailey was crying and I turn around my first ad is cry I'm like that we never going to get through this we're not going to get through this you understand it's hard enough here to do this without falling apart we're not going to get through this guys you Understand but how good do this every day that everyone cared
so much about creating this movie did I can't even listen that us doing Defying Gravity that scene where she says you're you're trembling I I have to let me get something for you a mess the room everyone a mess a mess us two in the theater like how are we supposed to I'm looking at you you're looking at me We're supposed to say goodbye at this point it's just a mess yeah a mess Defying Gravity the last moment before I fly up in the air that was her last her last shot in the film oh
God so that was my like second to last shot in the film good luck everyone God speed good luck let's beat Cynthia thank you so much for joining us my heart is so full after this conversation this was amazing thank you mine too thank you very much this is wonderful thank you I'm so glad I got to do this with you this so exciting that's
