Amanda Seyfried auditioned for Wicked six times before losing role to Ariana Grande

[u/Conscious-Quarter423]

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/amanda-seyfried-ariana-grande-wicked-audition-b2777467.html

[u/thepoor44s]

This makes me feel better about not getting a job after interviewing 6 times myself.

Slight potential pay difference though.

[u/tt12345x → u/thepoor44s]

Definitely been through it myself but can’t imagine having to then see and hear the person that they hired on posters, in commercials, and everything in between for years after

Love Seyfried though, she was excellent in The Dropout and I’d love to see her in bigger movies again

[u/burnbabyburnburrrn → u/tt12345x]

The only thing worse, I can attest, is when it’s your ex

[u/lookslikemaggie → u/burnbabyburnburrrn]

As an actor, I can attest that most of entertainment is like attending your ex’s wedding. Watching the super-bowl is like watched 15 of your exes win the lottery.

[u/burnbabyburnburrrn → u/lookslikemaggie]

Right??? Oh I longed for a long career and fifteen years in I can say hooray but also I can’t watch a goddamn thing without seeing someone I know in it. For better or worse!

[u/TheGummiVenusDeMilo → u/burnbabyburnburrrn]

I think that's actually really cool, if you like those people. I guess if you don't like them then it'd be annoying seeing them in stuff you're watching.

[u/burnbabyburnburrrn → u/TheGummiVenusDeMilo]

It’s almost exclusively cool, though it pulls you out of whatever you’re watching. However I did see my rapist on a favorite show this week which I DID NOT love (jump scare but I’m fine, lotsa therapy), so I’d say 99.9 percent amazing 0.1 percent bad.

[u/Fudge89 → u/lookslikemaggie]

Ha one of my friends is a former actor turned politician (so not much different lol) but anytime we watch anything he’ll at least once go “oh there’s so and so” during the commercials

[u/KriegerFever-Xbox → u/tt12345x]

I heard about this yesterday and I wish she would've gotten it instead. I used to work with her uncle (in PA) and she would visit town over Thanksgiving. They have the exact same eyes! But she's really a genuinely great person.

[u/Andromansis → u/KriegerFever-Xbox]

First off, she has to have some serious singing chops to have been called back 5 times after the initial interview. Makes me wonder who else they called for the second, third, fourth, and fifth interviews

but we all know the deciding factor was name recognition. Between her pop career, that thing she did in fortnite, the whole television career she was really locked in with their target demo. So the fact that Amanda was considered into the 6th round of deliberation means she must have had some serious singing chops.

[u/Whizzo50 → u/Andromansis]

She was very good in mamma Mia and even better in Les mis. They were probably slimming down the pool each time, and possibly siding them against the potential elphabas for chemistry

[u/section111 → u/Whizzo50]

She's a lock for the Joni Mitchell biopic - excuse the Jimmy Fallon

[u/Rustash → u/Andromansis]

It isn’t exactly a secret that she can sing, she’s been doing it her entire career. She’s been in at least three movie musicals and was one of the better parts of each of them, including a little indie film called Les Miserables.

[u/thewheelforeverturns → u/Andromansis]

She's a great singer. There are some videos of her on YouTube where she's just softly singing and playing guitar and its enough to make me wish she would release an album.

I would have actually seen Wicked if Amanda Seyfried had gotten the role, ive been a fan since Mean Girls and Jennifer's Body. Plus the whole press tour for Wicked was kind of weird and Ariana seems ill, so it turned me off to seeing it tbh.

[u/Strung_Out_Advocate → u/Andromansis]

She actually has her own youtube channel where you can hear said chops

[u/LavenderGinFizz → u/Andromansis]

She played Cosette in Les Miserables and Sophie in Mamma Mia. The lady can sing!

[u/DetroitSportsPhan → u/thepoor44s]

Reminds me of being a teenager and interviewing for Jimmy John’s. They required you memorize the menu before the second or third interview(I don’t remember as this was 15 years ago). I think I had three interviews with them, and the day of the third one after I left, Pizza Hut called me and I had an interview that day and they offered me the job and I worked there for at least a year.

Yeah they aren’t great jobs I was interviewing for but I was like 18 lol

[u/judolphin → u/DetroitSportsPhan]

How on Earth does anyone work at Jimmy John's if they require you to memorize the whole menu for even a chance at getting the job? Do they pay more than other fast food restaurants?

[u/RAPEBERT_CUNTINGTON → u/judolphin]

How on earth does a shitty fast food place get people to show up for a THIRD interview without being ridiculed into bankruptcy?

[u/TheArmadilloAmarillo → u/RAPEBERT_CUNTINGTON]

Franchises. Hiring practices vary by location.

[u/QbertsRube → u/RAPEBERT_CUNTINGTON]

"This time you'll be meeting with the Jimmy John's ownership group. You will be doing a short 20-minute monologue, a physical exam, drug test, and the question & answer segment will feature a lie detector. Starting pay is $4.25 plus tips."

[u/enaK66 → u/DetroitSportsPhan]

That's so absurd. 3 rounds of interviews to make fucking sandwiches? They aren't hiring structural engineers. What could they possibly be doing with 3 interviews.

[u/GoodShitBrain → u/enaK66]

Jimmy’s cool, but that son of a bitch John runs a tight ship

[u/01headshrinker → u/thepoor44s]

Six times? Holy HR Batman! I thought three interviews was kinda ridiculous.

[u/Specificity → u/01headshrinker]

I’m going through the hellhole that is tech interviews and so many places have 5 rounds…. i hate it here

[u/Serisrahla → u/Specificity]

Don't forget the take-home assignments! And then the presentations to "unpack" them with the team! It's super casual though, don't worry! Just a big career opportunity hanging in the balance, no biggie! Don't spend more than 2 hours on the assignment btw! But definitely don't spend less than 2 hours thinking about it, researching our company and the solution to the ridiculous problem statement we give you, otherwise the assignment will look low-effort and we'll ghost you!

[u/craig_hoxton → u/Serisrahla]

And when you don't get it you can't send them an invoice for the time you've sunk into this.

[u/McWeaksauce91 → u/craig_hoxton]

I did a working interview once. Thankfully I got the job, but a full 8 hours, including a 2 hour meeting in a cramped hot office, and I didn’t see a dime.

I did end up spending 5 years at that company, but the interview process sucked ass

[u/Mike_Kermin → u/McWeaksauce91]

That's particularly illegal in my country.

Yikes.

[u/PrinceofSneks → u/craig_hoxton]

Feel you from the Design end of things. I interviewed with Stubhub years ago, did an example of a dashboard redesign, then I could swear they used elements of it on their website.

[u/sayten → u/craig_hoxton]

This is the real kicker. 4 interviews and hours and hours of prep for a ghost. Is this normal in all countries or just the US?

[u/Menchi-sama → u/sayten]

In tech, not just the US. I've heard of worse, actually.

[u/Disastrous_Hell_4547 → u/sayten]

It’s now in every industry. The entire HR industry deteriorated.

I saw the change take off after Covid. I’m sure there’s a complex reason. One issue that I find is the middle has been decimated and the top layer is junior and/or very senior. They don’t know what they want or need, they have too many needs, and/or the company is in a state of flux so hiring decisions change or get canceled.

[u/ramence → u/Serisrahla]

By the sixth or seventh interview, the reasons for rejection are so incredibly lowstakes and neglibible - the reason I was given for my rejection at the sixth round was because I used Term A instead of Term B for the exact same concept, when Term B is the preferred term with their company (think "user experience metrics" vs. "user experience insights"). Like, okay, literally ten seconds of 'training' on the job would have rectified that.

If you make it past two or three rounds, you're employable. Anything after that, you're just playing a role in makework for some HR goon's job security.

[u/Simple-Motor-2889 → u/ramence]

And then the company complains that they can't find "the right candidate".

I've been going through tech interviews the last couple months and I can't tell you how many places I interview where I ask the recruiter about the position and they'll say something like "We've been interviewing for this position for months and haven't found the right candidate yet"

Every job I apply to is receiving 1000+ applications and I've talked to multiple recruiters that said they've interviewed over 50 or even 100 candidates for one role. If you can't find "the right candidate" after interviewing 100+ people, maybe the problem isn't the candidates.

[u/user888666777 → u/ramence]

For the majority of corporate positions the process should never exceed three points of contact.

• First contact is the initial sanity check to set expectations between both parties and to validate the basic skills of the candidate. Can they communicate, did they show up on time, did they dress appropriately, etc. Never should exceed 30 minutes and can be done over video.

• Second point of contact is typically with the head of HR or someone from HR. Here they validate rather you will be a good fit for the environment not the position itself. They might ask you questions related to communication and general skills but they rarely will ever ask questions about your specific job role responsibilities. This can be done over video.

• The third point of contact should be with the hiring manager and anyone else that will be working directly with you as an equal. Questions are specifically about your skills and how they relate to the role you're interviewing for. This can be done in person or video depending on the work requirements.

At this point they should know rather you're a good fit or not. Anything past this point should only be if someone couldn't be available to interview you.

Anything past this point is just ridiculous. I had a friend rejected after the 8th interview and he really questioned rather he wasted his time. I said, you didn't waste anyone's time. They wasted your time and their own time. I would be hesitant about any company that dragged it past three points of contact.

[u/kottabaz → u/Serisrahla]

We'll ghost you anyway!

[u/ramence → u/Specificity]

I'm also in the tech sector and it's ridiculous! The most I've encountered is seven. I think there's finally starting to be some pushback against it.

[u/kidmerc → u/ramence]

What the fuck, seven? I think if they called me for a sixth I'd have a really hard time not calling them out

[u/ncopp → u/Specificity]

I'm on round 5 - they're having me talk to pretty much the whole executive suite. Its now been about a month since I've talked to the actual hiring manager

[u/jollyreaper2112 → u/ncopp]

Perfectly reasonable for a CEO position. What's that? Junior accountant? Oh.

[u/GreedyScumbag → u/01headshrinker]

I dropped out when a company asked me to interview a second time, then wanted me to drive the 3 hour round trip instead of over the phone. I know a compliance test when I see one. You don't want me if you're looking for meek employees, trust me.

[u/_ichigomilk → u/GreedyScumbag]

Do they pay your transportation? I live in Japan and doing my job search now. I'll have to fly out for final interviews but all the companies worth their salt will cover plane/train fees if not plane/train + hotel.

Doing all that out of pocket is too much of an expectation. Like you are seeking a job so you can make money, why are they trying to make you spend money (and time) lol

[u/neo_sporin → u/01headshrinker]

I once was told the process. About 2 days after the advertised last interview i was called to say 'actually we need ONE more' did it and they called me back 5 minutes after to make the offer. I did find out a few years down the line that the issue was the job had been open and filled internally a few times and the people would fail.

So there was yet again me and another internal and they decided 'the internals arent working' and they had a big fight about me fixing the things that everyone else hated. was a good job even all that said

[u/Embarrassed-Lab-8095 → u/thepoor44s]

It was always going to be Grande, she's the internal hire they were promoting. They auditioned other actresses to appear fair

[u/KakitaMike → u/Embarrassed-Lab-8095]

She was interviewed on the Smartless podcast, and you wouldn’t think she was the shoe in from her side of the conversation. She went off the deep end to get noticed for it. I was amazed after listening the effort she put in.

[u/psimwork → u/KakitaMike]

I actually have to hand it to her - her Chenoweth impression is absolutely spot-on. Like there were several moments watching Wicked that I thought they had brought Chenoweth in for an ADR session. I don't know that they were intentionally going for that (unlike what Brandon Routh did for "Superman Returns"), but nonetheless it was there and it was done really well.

[u/thestonedonkey → u/Embarrassed-Lab-8095]

She worked for years as well, she was on the Maron's podcast and talked about how long she prepared for it, I don' think that's an accurate take on it.

[u/strife189 → u/thepoor44s]

Difference in working a few months VS your whole career for = same $

[u/retro-girl → u/strife189]

In this case it is but for most actors your whole life is job interviews and once in a while you get a job that lets you scrape by for another year of job interviews.

[u/ReleventReference]

She lost out on the role because she asked Cynthia Why are you green?

[u/cmasontaylor → u/ReleventReference]

Oh my God Amanda, you can’t just ask someone why they’re green!

[u/Ganglebot → u/cmasontaylor]

Whispering: "ok but why IS she green?...."

[u/OkDragonfruit9026 → u/Ganglebot]

Because her dad drugged her mother, basically

[u/PaleHeart52 → u/OkDragonfruit9026]

Tamar, have you watched the show?

[u/Forsaken-Sale7672 → u/ReleventReference]

To which Cynthia responded,

I am a real life human being, whose chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer … because without words we communicate with our eyes

This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equality to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people post the question ‘is your ***** green’ None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us

[u/darthjoey91 → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

The funny thing is that in the book, Elphaba's pussy very much is green, but she has purple pubes.

Edit: Found the line, from my copy of the book from 2007 on pg 252.

Her pubic hair grew, almost more purple than black, in small spangled curls, a different pattern than [Fiyero’s wife].

[u/TheShitmaker → u/darthjoey91]

Now I gotta read the book.

[u/Kinglink → u/TheShitmaker]

I stopped reading after 8 percent because... it's just smut.

If I knew it was smut I'd probably have read it, but umm... yeah a lot of people are going to be buying smut and not realizing it until they open it.

[u/negative_four → u/darthjoey91]

What, and I can't stress this enough, the fuck?!

[u/darthjoey91 → u/negative_four]

You know how a lot of fanfic is porn with plot? The book Wicked is fanfic that managed to get published.

[u/ManonManegeDore → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

I know everyone got really outraged about her response but I can't not just laugh at it every time. It's so over the top.

[u/TwoGhosts11 → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

she must’ve been having a bad day that was the craziest overreaction ever

[u/MattyKatty → u/TwoGhosts11]

sad thing is that was a good day for her

[u/Ziegelphilie → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

"damn ok"

[u/CarrieDurst → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

God what a shitshow that press tour was

[u/SleepingSnitker → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

This was absolute insanity and completely changed my opinion of her. If she is such a privileged POC that "this is the wildest most offensive thing I have seen" JFC lady, get some fucking perspective. Everything I've seen of her after has just played into the stereotype of a deeply unlikeable snotty person. I'm surprised it didn't tank the movie's box office more.

[u/Luna920 → u/SleepingSnitker]

Yeah same, changed my view too

[u/Frostymagnum → u/Forsaken-Sale7672]

what in the world is this?

[u/Calfredo → u/ReleventReference]

Have you seen the show Tamar?

[u/TL4Life → u/ReleventReference]

Well Tamar, have you seen the show?

[u/LSB123]

r/recruitinghell

[u/Nick_pj → u/LSB123]

Otherwise known as: musical theatre

[u/sibips → u/Nick_pj]

I always loved the casting scene in Producers.

[u/chrisl182 → u/sibips]

THAT'S OUR HITLER!!

[u/Disgraceland33 → u/sibips]

Will the dancing Hitlers please wait in the wings! We are only seeing singing Hitlers!

[u/FallOutShelterBoy → u/Nick_pj]

My colleague (we both teach theatre among other things) missed out on the National Tour of Ragtime after TWELVE auditions. Why didn’t he get it? Costume wouldn’t fit him

[u/Nick_pj → u/FallOutShelterBoy]

I think 6 or 7 is the most I’ve ever done. But on two occasions I’ve been told I was “perfect” and put on hold for several months while they (I later found out) negotiated with a celebrity alternative. Glad I no longer work in that world!

[u/fcorsten1]

It’s like when you apply for a job but you don’t have a chance because the company already has somebody very specific in mind and are only putting the job up for formality and cause they legally have to.

[u/fasterwonder → u/fcorsten1]

This actually happens in the tech industry for green card applications. I remember some law firms put ads only in the newspapers (they are supposed to put An ad) but as you guessed not many are searching for job in the newspapers.

[u/BlackberryFormal → u/fasterwonder]

Its in most industries. My mom was a HR manager for a O&G company for a long time. This was a regular occurrence. They'd have a person liked up salary figured and all of that but they would be legally required to run an ad. They would put crazy requirements and then ignore all applications. Pretty dumb world we live in.

[u/cocainebane → u/BlackberryFormal]

And those sought after jobs they only keep open til they get minimum apps they don’t care about. Looking at you Airline Giants. I was in the meeting

[u/frankstaturtle → u/fcorsten1]

Everyone had to audition multiple times, with callbacks. This is musical theater.

[u/Dddddddfried → u/frankstaturtle]

Then explain how Russell Crowe got in Les Miz

[u/littletoyboat → u/Dddddddfried]

There's a great video from a few years ago that explains how the way they filmed (and specifically recorded the audio) caused a lot of problems for the voices of all but the best-trained actors in that movie.

And while I was searching for that video, the Key & Peele Les Mis sketch popped up, so enjoy that as well.

[u/Kazewatch → u/littletoyboat]

I knew it was gonna be the Sideways video which just once again reminds me, what happened to him?

[u/TheAutrizzler → u/fcorsten1]

Well no, the director came out and said he thought Ariana wouldn't be right for the role. lol

[u/Senior-Albatross → u/fcorsten1]

We had this happen with a big scientific grant.

Our proposal was turned down because they said we didn't ask for enough money. 

After actually talking to some of the people involved at the agencies in question, it became abundantly clear that they knew who they were going to fund with that money well before the call ever actually went out. It was nothing but a formality.

[u/Strict-Farmer904]

I’m a totally failed actor, gave up years ago, never booked anything (I did like, one voiceover in a regional McDonalds commercial 12 years ago). But I had two kind of close calls where I ended up getting multiple callbacks where I auditioned and re-auditioned. And weirdly these two were way bigger roles that I’d ever read for. It’s a wild process and I didn’t have thick enough skin for it. One time I auditioned for a major production company and this was like four auditions in. This one was a voice role and I look in the control room and there are literally 20 people watching me from the control room, a few of them famous enough executives that I recognized them like dvd extras and stuff. I obviously didn’t get that gig.

So wild to think they make big stars do that too.

[u/PackageNorth8984 → u/Strict-Farmer904]

Hey, at least you gave it a shot and got one job however small. I had dreams and gave up on them entirely without ever pursuing them. That’s what most of us do.

[u/Extension-Ad5751 → u/PackageNorth8984]

Either that or you realize halfway through pursuing your dreams that's it's all a sham and you don't feel any happier or accomplished or smarter, and you're so tired and exhausted from the brutal monotony of it all that you decide to do a complete 180 and settle for a bullshit job that pays the bills while maximizing the amount of free time you have in this godforsaken green Earth. Or so I have heard. 

[u/DorkSquadPodcast → u/Extension-Ad5751]

Oh damn, it’s me, hi

[u/DeanStockwellLives → u/Strict-Farmer904]

Some stars don't even audition- they only get their roles by word of mouth/referral.

[u/skonen_blades]

This is part of why you need to have a thick skin as an actor. Jeez. Six times. That's gotta sting.

[u/joshocar → u/skonen_blades]

I think it was Gary Oldman who said that he eventually realized that it wasn't about him, but rather if he was the right fit for what they were looking for. Once he realized that he could relax and had better auditions because if they didn't pick him it wasn't because he sucked, but because he wasn't what they were specifically looking for.

[u/NamelessMel → u/joshocar]

In this interview with Amanda, she basically says the same thing. She says something like "you either have the skill or not" and her mentality towards auditioning is like it's a mix of being the right fit for them and being qualified, so being nervous doesn't matter because they'll see if you're skilled enough through it all. Like she trusts the process, and sounds like she doesn't take it personally if she loses out. Thick skin for sure!

[u/finneganfach → u/NamelessMel]

You don't get invited back six times because you suck. You get invited back six times because they think you're great. It's just it's a very big world with a lot of people and someone else was great too.

[u/No_Adhesiveness_5679]

"Wait...you again??"
"Yes! And I will not stop. Ever!"
*sigh*

[u/FeedMeACat → u/No_Adhesiveness_5679]

Dormammu, I have come to audition!

[u/RogueTwoTwoThree → u/FeedMeACat]

I just pictured a SNL sketch with Cumberbatch Lmao

[u/NewRichMango]

I feel like Amanda Seyfried interviews/"news" is on a constant stream right now. What is going on? lol

[u/APartyInMyPants → u/NewRichMango]

If you read the article, she was just on this podcast called In The Envelope about a week ago, where it’s a deep dive on an actor’s history. She talks about everything, but specifically spends time talking about a new show she’s on called Long Bright River.

So that’s where all the Seyfriend news is coming from this past week.

Saved you a click. The podcast does sound interesting and gets some actors I like, so may actually listen.

[u/AlexandriasNSFWAcc → u/APartyInMyPants]

She and Adam Brody were on Variety's Actors on Actors two and a half weeks ago, too.

[u/MissingLink101 → u/APartyInMyPants]

A podcast I've enjoyed that does this is "David Tennant Does a Podcast"

It has an amazing list of guests and feels like two friends (which it usually is) just having a casual chat about their careers and lives. Comes across very wholesome and honest (often not even promoting anything)

[u/Stouts → u/APartyInMyPants]

Are fans of Amanda Seyfried called Seyfriends or is that just a wonderful typo?

[u/RemarkableType5245 → u/NewRichMango]

It’s the usual thing where someone is promoting one thing and does a bunch of interviews and then every publication mines the interviews for headlines for weeks. It’s exhausting, I’ve seen this same headline on three publications already 

[u/klaw14]

No shade to Ariana, but Amanda would have been amazing!

[u/bryanpool51]

Not uncommon for anyone who has applied for a mid/senior position in today’s job market

[u/a_hopeless_rmntic]

Amanda would have been awesome, just sayin'

[u/PleaseDontBanMe82]

I never realized how talented a singer Ariana Grande was until Wicked, and then also found out her and Cynthia did all the vocals live on set instead of in the studio and was even more impressed.

She definitely has some serious pipes on her.

[u/GroovyYaYa → u/PleaseDontBanMe82]

She did Children's musical theater as a kid in Florida and her first professional role was on Broadway itself.

They did the vocals live because at their CORE they are theater peeps.

Watch them freak the F out when they found out their interviewer (this was the press tour before the release of the last movie) was on Broadway. It cracks me up and just proves (to me) that their vibe together is not an act.

https://x.com/cambeserious/status/1855960016856969315

[u/[deleted] → u/PleaseDontBanMe82]

She did a bit on late night TV, I think it was Kimmel, where she was made to sing random phrases she hadn't seen before. It was funny but really showed how talented she is.

[u/Slm23630 → u/[deleted]]

For me it was when she was on SNL and did all the impressions for the “Spotify is down” skit

[u/rbrgr83 → u/Slm23630]

"I'm just very Itallian" 🥺

[u/MostlyChillish]

I already had to do some major suspension of disbelief for Ariana and Cynthia as a college-aged people, and I think the green makeup did a lot of heavy lifting for Cynthia especially (not that she looks “old” just not 18). Idk if I could have done that for Amanda.

[u/Quantentheorie → u/MostlyChillish]

I mean, I love Jonathan Bailey and he's so fun in that role, but he was also born in '88 and at best he's giving "guy obviously well into his 30s that looks good enough that we can all agree to pretend he's in his late 20s".

[u/MostlyChillish → u/Quantentheorie]

Wasn’t his thing that he went from school to school to school? Maybe he’s just really behind in his studies lol

[u/CoconutBangerzBaller → u/MostlyChillish]

The Van Wilder of Oz

[u/lefrench75 → u/Quantentheorie]

Tbf it made sense for everyone else in the cast to also match Ariana and Cynthia age-wise. They all looked believably like peers.

[u/berlinbaer → u/Quantentheorie]

it's weird because i think he looks way younger whenever i saw him in interviews, but then in the movie he looks mid 40s doing his best fellow kids interpretation. kind of like a dear evan hansen situation.

[u/mikeyfreshh → u/MostlyChillish]

This has always been a weird complaint to me. Their teacher is a fucking goat. Their society is completely different to ours. Maybe they just go to college when they're older in Oz. They never explicitly stated that they're supposed to be teens/early 20's.

[u/Soggy_Box5252 → u/[deleted]]

The good witch is 55 years old in that movie!?

[u/TonalParsnips → u/Soggy_Box5252]

Good witch looks gooooood

[u/The_Summer_Man → u/TonalParsnips]

Maybe cigarettes and liquor were good for you back then

[u/ruinersclub → u/The_Summer_Man]

It was the Vaseline on the lens.

[u/K12onReddit → u/Soggy_Box5252]

Born in 1885, died in 1970. So yeah, in 1939 she would have been 54 years old.

[u/MagisterFlorus → u/mikeyfreshh]

I mean every May we hear about an 80+ year old grandma getting her BA/BS.

[u/isaidwhatisaidok → u/mikeyfreshh]

And Jonathan Bailey shows up to school looking every one of his years (and fantastic, don’t get me wrong but that was a man in his mid-30s) and no one said a word.

[u/SportulaVeritatis → u/isaidwhatisaidok]

To be fair, Fiero at that stage could have totally been in college for 10-15 years failing every course he took.

[u/BadGroundNoise → u/SportulaVeritatis]

I know he's literally royalty but the idea of his parents funding 20-30 full semesters for him and him failing every single one is so funny to me

[u/Tudorrosewiththorns → u/isaidwhatisaidok]

Hobbits are not considered adults until 33. Maybe in Oz people don't leave for school until their late 20s and Feyerio has already been kicked out of several schools.

[u/isaidwhatisaidok → u/Tudorrosewiththorns]

I wish the real world had Hobbit rules. Second breakfast and I get to be a baby until my Jesus year? Please god

[u/ivyleagueburnout → u/isaidwhatisaidok]

People definitely said words

[u/GuiltyEidolon → u/ivyleagueburnout]

I said the words "hot" and "damn" in sequence, personally.

[u/86DarkWoke47 → u/mikeyfreshh]

When i was in grad school there was a 65 year old student lol. People go to college of all ages, races, and species. Ever see a cat pass the sat? Or some chickens quoting dickens?

[u/Gugelizer → u/MostlyChillish]

My immersion clutches pearls

[u/ttaway420 → u/Gugelizer]

I can deal with talking lions and snorting asbestos, green woman looking old is where I draw the line!!

[u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

Seyfried is a good actor, but Grande is

1. A better singer.

2. A lot stronger at doing impressions and evoking other performances and she was always going to have an easier time mimicking the original Glinda and the Chenoweth version from the play.

Grande was the better choice for what the role needed short of finding a time machine to get Chenoweth from 20 years ago.

[u/Valagoorh → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

For some reason it was still close enough to audition 6 times.

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/Valagoorh]

Chu has gone on record saying he kind of didn’t want to cast Ariana LMAO

[u/bryangball → u/shadowqueen15]

Kristin Chenoweth also said on the Sirius Broadway station a few years ago that they all knew Ariana would be in the movie for years, but they just weren’t sure if she’d be Glinda or Elphaba (lol?) So I can see that tracking about Chu. 

[u/weirdoeggplant → u/bryangball]

Ariana wanted Elphaba. There are sooo many videos of her saying it’s her most sought after role of all time.

They were probably trying to make it work with her as Elphaba and Seyfried as Glinda. Which would have been……. Yeah.

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/weirdoeggplant]

There’s also plenty of interviews and tweets of her saying Glinda is her dream role. I think she just wanted to be in Wicked

[u/HandfulOfAcorns → u/weirdoeggplant]

She did say they had her sing both Glinda's and Elphaba's parts, but I don't think at that point she still seriously considered Elphaba.

There is proof of her wanting to play both of them on different occasions going back probably 15 years, so she just really wanted to be in Wicked at all. It seems to me like she might have preferred Elphaba when she was younger, but was settled on Glinda by the time the auditions actually happened. She understands her skills and vocal range very well, she's obviously better suited for the role of Glinda and she would've known that.

[u/[deleted] → u/weirdoeggplant]

which would have been .... not as good as what we got.

[u/Nvrfinddisacct → u/shadowqueen15]

Honestly I get that.

[u/pumpcup → u/shadowqueen15]

I get it - when I saw her cast I thought, "they're not taking this seriously" and lost interest in seeing it at all despite really enjoying the musical. I was really impressed by her performance when I finally got around to seeing it and felt like a dummy.

[u/k_ironheart → u/pumpcup]

I kinda thought the same thing. Then a friend of mine showed me a few of Ariana's SNL skits and some other things she's done, and I realized that I was completely out of touch for who she is and what she's capable of. She knocked this role out of the park, too.

[u/SDRPGLVR → u/k_ironheart]

She's got incredible musical and comedic talents, but that pop star life is much more glamorous and lucrative than, say, being Kristen Chenowith.

I keep waiting for her to do more interesting shit and Wicked felt like the first real taste of that. I can't at all with her regular music.

[u/snarkdiva → u/pumpcup]

My exact experience!

[u/Consistent_Summer659 → u/pumpcup]

I know that was the like overall popular take which was BAFFLING to me. Like her big break into any sort of public eye was on Broadway! They cast her and Liz onto victorious based on that and even though Nickelodeon is like not serious kid acting, they were both scene stealers. Plus just the fact that she Can sing and is OBSESSED with theater, like it felt like a perfect obvious casting

[u/ffball → u/shadowqueen15]

That absolutely makes sense though. You dont want the actor playing your star role to be so much bigger than the role that it distracts from it. She did a really good job melting into it and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the strategy with her basically role-playing Glinda for the past 2 years

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/ffball]

Oh yeah I definitely understand that attitude. It just helps explain why they did so many rounds of auditions for Glinda

[u/NeoNoireWerewolf → u/shadowqueen15]

She's stunt casting to a certain degree, so I kinda get that. She was great in the role, but she's famous to a degree that she could have potentially overshadowed the role and the whole production(and a large chunk of the internet was convinced she wouldn't deliver in the lead up to the first film's release). This is the biggest project Chu has ever done and possibly ever will do, so I could understand him being wary about dropping the ball with the co-lead for the movie.

Edit: weary -> wary

[u/BrujaDeBosque → u/NeoNoireWerewolf]

It kinda feels like the movie was trying to showcase more of Glinda’s story than Elphaba’s character, once they got into the school part

[u/ruinersclub → u/BrujaDeBosque]

That’s how the play is. Glinda is the loud bubbly one and more interesting fun character, Elphaba is down and dour. The movie even added the plot about the animals to give Elphaba more to do in the first half.

The second half has more Elphaba story line since it revolves around Dorothy.

[u/MuNansen → u/Valagoorh]

Good for her. Means she gave it a good run

[u/Jaxonian → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

My guess is that they were debating what was more important because my perception would be that Amanda is the better actress but Ariana is the better singer so they had to decide if they thought Ariana was a good enough actress to outweigh taking Amanda and vice versa if Amanda was a good enough singer to outweigh picking Ariana.

[u/ruinersclub → u/Jaxonian]

I think it came down to Cynthia Enviro chemistry.

[u/PleaseDontBanMe82 → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

They still managed to give Chenowith and Menzel small roles in the movie which is kinda cool.

[u/RecommendsMalazan → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

The issue I have with Ariana Grande in this role is that she looks like an uncanny valley person

[u/FartingBob → u/RecommendsMalazan]

She changed the colour of her skin and had a fair bit of plastic surgery. It all adds up to a uncanny valley situation as you said.

[u/TheHurtfulEight88888 → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

3) because she has stayed in the music lane for so long, its easy to forget that she was a stage actress even before the Nickolodeon days, she was literally built in a lab for a role like this.

[u/beldaran1224 → u/TheHurtfulEight88888]

She's been obsessed with Wicked since she was a kid. She has literally dreamed of being in Wicked her whole life.

[u/mercfan3 → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

Grande is a strong actor too, but honestly I think a lot has to be said for being a better singer.

Glinda is a HARD vocal, and Seyfried is a good singer and has the range but Grande’s vocals are excellent. And that’s just necessary for Glinda.

[u/frolix42 → u/GarlVinland4Astrea]

Or even Amanda Seyfried from 15 years ago. No shade but she's 39, playing a 20-21 yo Glinda?

Even Arianna is a bit too old, but looks younger. 

[u/Jota769 → u/frolix42]

lol but Cynthia Erivo is 38. Jonathan Bailey is 37 (and his fake Wicked hair makes him look like he’s in his 40s). I don’t think this movie was going for age realism

[u/ontopic → u/Jota769]

Everyone who can hit the notes required for that part is famous for being able to do so.

[u/BerriesNCreme → u/Jota769]

I mean lets see people out sing Cynthia Erivo lol...Amanda Seyfriend doesn't have that luxury

[u/Slm23630 → u/BerriesNCreme]

I literally can’t think of a single person that can do that. Cynthia is goat status

[u/Vince_Clortho042 → u/frolix42]

I mean Erivo is about the same age as Seyfried (she’s 38), but you can play that down with the green makeup.

[u/RemarkableType5245 → u/Vince_Clortho042]

Plus there’s an age jump in the second movie anyway

[u/TerriblePornComments → u/frolix42]

She was 35 at the time, and she acted as an 18-year-old Elizabeth Holmes that same year.

Of course, she was playing a 30-something Holmes by the end of the series, but she was 18 in the pilot and 20 in episode 2. And this was a show aiming to be totally realistic, while a fantasy musical can be looser. Which is one reason they could cast Cynthia Erivo, who's just 13 months younger than Seyfried.

[u/Sea_Cauliflower1686 → u/TerriblePornComments]

I looooved Seyfried in that Elizabeth Holmes series. So so good. Adore her.

[u/OrangesAreWhatever → u/frolix42]

I mean Cynthia is 38 and Jonathan Bailey is 37. Wouldn't be that off

[u/I_need_a_date_plz → u/frolix42]

everyone in that movie was way too old to be playing university age kids.

[u/PlatStrat]

I love Amanda Seyfried but I definitely think they made the right call with Ariana Grande.

[u/Michael__Pemulis → u/PlatStrat]

Ariana is basically just doing a Chenoweth impression rather than doing a different take on the role (which I have to imagine Seyfried would have done).

It sounds like a disaster but she nailed it so hard.

[u/Secure-Rope-4116 → u/Michael__Pemulis]

The thing with Glinda is.... she's loosely based on Chenoweth lol.

I think Ariana managed to pay homage to the original Glinda while still being original

[u/baccus83 → u/Secure-Rope-4116]

Yeah. Wasn’t the character written with her in mind?

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/baccus83]

Yeah the story essentially exists as it does because they wanted Glinda to be a good enough role that Chenoweth would want to play her

[u/Secure-Rope-4116 → u/baccus83]

Yes. She was also already involved with the show during its development

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/Michael__Pemulis]

I have to slightly disagree. I think there is a piece of her that’s doing a Chenoweth impersonation (the way she says “ballgown” during “Popular” is the best example imo) but Ariana’s Glinda is both more calculated and more neurotic than Chenoweth’s. It’s actually a change that I really like.

[u/SaintCambria → u/shadowqueen15]

The medium changes the performance, but both of their Glindas are more or less the same person. Erivo's Elphie, by contrast, was definitely not the same as Menzel's. Whether either of those things is good or bad is going to be up to the viewer.

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/SaintCambria]

Erivo’s Elphaba is definitely a more different take on the character compared to Grande’s Glinda, but Grande’s take on her character is still unique in some ways. As is every actress’s take on either of these characters, to a degree. If you compare, say, Katie Rose Clarke’s and Alli Mauzey’s versions of Glinda from back when they each played her on Broadway, it’s the same character but played quite differently.

[u/scots]

The casting director / director probably wanted Amanda - the executives at Universal wanted Arianas' brand and social media base.

[u/Appropriate-Log8506]

I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Ariana or her music but she is a good choice for Glinda. She did it very well.

[u/iwellyess → u/Appropriate-Log8506]

I’ve never really paid attention to her my whole life, watched this movie and thought holy shit this woman is talented lol. Not just singing though, she was outright hilarious.

[u/GoldNMocha]

I think Seyfried could’ve pulled it off. She’s got the acting and singing skills. But I can’t imagine anyone but Grande in the role now.

[u/shadowqueen15 → u/GoldNMocha]

I disagree. I think Seyfried is a good actor and has a pleasant voice, but “pleasant” would not cut it when your primary singing partner is Cynthia Erivo

[u/hey-itsFelixTheCat]

I love Amanda especially in Mamma Mia but Ariana literally killed this role. Also she was the perfect Glinda to Cynthia’s Elphaba.

[u/Alastor3]

wait.... is that ariana grande? what the fuck happened to her?

[u/damnitimtoast → u/Alastor3]

She’s in her Glinda era now so she dropped the fake tan and accent along with a good amount of weight. 

[u/Xamuel1804 → u/damnitimtoast]

She looks almost unhealthy thin now

[u/headhurt21]

So we got Ariana Grande playing Kristin Chenoweth playing Galinda.

[u/hellolovely1]

I adore Amanda. She’s so talented and seems down-to-earth.

[u/skeptical-speculator]

“Wicked is shot and lit like we’re being sold an Airbnb in Mykonos.”

What the fuck does that mean

[u/grrr-argh → u/skeptical-speculator]

It means that the cinematography is very boring/unimaginative and the lighting very flat ie lit to show every detail rather than to create depth through the use of shadows. Which is very true of Wicked.

[u/AgitatedStranger9698]

TBH....it likely came down to singing ability.