Yahoo Lifestyle Amanda Seyfried Addressed That Viral Video Of Her Singing “Popular” From “Wicked” After Losing The Role Of Glinda To Ariana Grande
The Wicked movie has only been out for a few weeks, but it’s been known for quite some time that Amanda Seyfried was one of the many actors who had hoped to play Glinda.
For context, Amanda had spent years talking about her lifelong desire to play the iconic role, and in 2022, she revealed that she was so desperate to star in the Wicked adaptation that she auditioned while shooting The Dropout — in which she delivered her Emmy-winning portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes.
“I wanted it that much that I was like, ‘You know what? Yeah, I have to play the last scene of The Dropout on Tuesday. I’ll give my Sunday to you,’” she told Backstage as she recalled the intense process. “I literally bent over backwards while playing the hardest role of my life… I have dreams that I’m still auditioning for Wicked.”
As well as being an award-winning dramatic actor, Amanda has a ton of musical experience, too, having starred in the stage-to-screen adaptions of both Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables.
However, as we now know, she was beaten out by Ariana Grande, who wound up being cast as Glinda alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
Since losing out on the role, the Mean Girls star has made it clear that she has no hard feelings about the whole thing, saying in 2022 that the tough audition process “taught [her] how far [she’s] come as a singer.”
And now, as Ariana receives widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of Glinda, Amanda has addressed the topic once again, celebrating that “everything happens the way it’s meant to.”
“I went hard for that, for sure. And it was a very long process,” she said in a new interview with People, in which she also praised Ariana’s performance in the “fantastic” movie.
“It’s an extravaganza, which is what [Ariana] does really well. And [my kids] have been playing the soundtrack nonstop,” she said. “Everything is as it’s meant to be, for sure.”
Amanda also set the record straight on a viral video of her singing Wicked’s “Popular,” which recently made waves online amid claims that it was a leaked snippet from her Glinda audition.
Discussing the viral clip with People, Amanda said that it was definitely not an audition tape and clarified that it was simply a spontaneous behind-the-scenes moment that was videoed and posted online by her stylist, Elizabeth Stewart.
“I think it was during COVID. I was doing a Lancôme shoot in Long Island City,” she said, revealing that she “was not auditioning for Wicked yet,” but knew it was “coming up.”
“So I was just fucking around, really, and I was like, ‘This dress is so Glinda.’ And Elizabeth was like, ‘Do it.’ And then she posted at some point,” Amanda recalled, adding that it maybe would’ve been “better if it hadn’t been posted” at all as to have avoided the commotion online.
How do you think Amanda would’ve done as Glinda? LMK in the comments.
You can read her full interview with People here.
Amanda Seyfried Spoke About Losing Out On A “Wicked” Movie Role To Ariana Grande And Said She “Bent Over Backwards” To Audition For It While Playing Elizabeth Holmes In “The Dropout”Ellen Durney · July 21, 2022
Following Rumors She Was Paid More, Ariana Grande Said That She And Cynthia Erivo Went Through Their “Wicked” Contracts Together To Ensure They Were “Aligned”Ellen Durney · Dec. 16, 2024
Jon M. Chu’s Comments About Whether Ariana Grande Was “Prepared” To Star In “Wicked” Have Left Fans Seriously Confused, And Here’s WhyEllen Durney · Dec. 5, 2024
