Cynthia Erivo is opening up about the widespread conversation surrounding her friendship with Wicked costar Ariana Grande.
“It was interesting that there were many people who had become psychologists from their couches,” Erivo, 39, said in a recent interview with The Guardian while reflecting on the whirlwind press tours for the two-part movie. “There was this weird sort of, what’s the word I’m looking for … annoyance … at the fact that two women could actually be friends.”
According to Erivo, some critics appeared to question the authenticity of the bond she formed with Grande, 33, during filming.
“Like, ‘Why are they friends? Why are they connected? There must be something wrong with them. Why are they showing emotion? How dare they cry? And how dare they laugh? And how dare they be emotive and alive?'” she said.
Erivo continued, “It’s a double-edged sword. Because if we were dead behind the eyes and showing no emotion, there would have been something else to say about it. I wish there was someone who could have been like, ‘Right, this is the proper balance of emotion that you should show. Don’t show this. Don’t show that. Just this amount.'”
Erivo and Grande portrayed Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in 2024’s Wicked and its 2025 sequel, Wicked: For Good. The pair were nearly inseparable while promoting the musical movies, frequently getting emotional during interviews and sparking meme-worthy moments (“holding space,” for example).
Amid all the internet chatter, Erivo recalled one moment that went “too far” when she was referred to as Grande’s “bodyguard” following a scary fan interaction at a red carpet in Singapore.
“No one else was moving. We were on a carpet. We were exposed. My immediate response was: ‘Get this man away from us now,'” Erivo told the outlet, remembering being asked whether she was a “protector” after she confronted the event crasher and put her arm around Grande. “I was like: ‘Oh, you think because I look like this that you could talk to me this way about something that was a human thing that I would have done for any friend, and hopefully a friend would have done for me.’ But I must be a bodyguard.”
The Tony winner thought the commentary disrespected her “humanity,” adding, “I think the idea that it’s OK to rip a person to shreds in that way when they’re doing something that’s a naturally human thing to do just felt crazy.”
Throughout their Wicked journeys, both Erivo and Grande were candid about how the project and their friendship changed them for good. Earlier this year, Erivo shut down speculation that the pair may have been more than friends.
“At first, I think people didn’t understand how it was possible for two women to be friends – close – and not lovers,” she told The Stylist in February. “I’ve never really spoken about this, but there was this strange fascination with the two of us, where people either thought we were putting it on for the cameras or that we were lovers.”
She added, “And I think it’s because there’s such little conversation around platonic female friendship that is deep and real, even though it exists everywhere. We’re not used to seeing it on camera, in front of people. A relationship where people are connected sometimes just makes people uncomfortable; we aren’t taught that those relationships are good for us.”
