THE RUNDOWN
Wicked: For Good’s Ariana Grande is nominated at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, but the star isn’t making a red carpet return this evening. The actress’s rep confirms to ELLE that she is not in attendance due to tour prep and rehearsals. Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour begins on June 6.
Grande is nominated this evening for the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role award for the second Wicked film.
The two-part film kicked off Grande’s return to acting. She spoke to Variety in January about what most surprised her when she recommitted herself to the art after years of focusing on her music career. (Grande got her start on Broadway’s 13 when she was a teenager and then starred on Nickelodeon’s show Victorious.)
“Every time something goes well—even if you’ve prepared for it for years—there’s always that rush of relief and gratitude afterward,” she said. “You think, ‘Oh my goodness, OK, we did it.’ You call your acting coach or your mom and say, ‘We did it.’
“With Wicked, that feeling happened constantly,” she continued. “Cynthia [Erivo, who played Elphaba] and I joke about it, but it’s true—every single day was a big day. We started with ‘Popular’ and ‘What Is This Feeling?’ and then jumped straight into ‘Defying Gravity.’ Before lunch, I’d be in the attic at the beginning of the number, and after lunch I’d be singing the finale alone. It was nonstop mental hurdles. There was no time to process what had happened the day before—or even earlier that day—because we had such quick turnarounds. It was very much blinders on, just staying in it. But whenever something landed, there was that overwhelming sense of relief.”
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