NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider Wicked

Ariana Grande Effortlessly Crushes Wings While Talking Wicked on Hot Ones (WATCH)

Ariana Grande discusses filming the screen adaptation of Wicked on an episode of Hot Ones.

By Cassidy Ward
Ariana Grande Talks Eternal Sunshine and Wicked, Teases Penn Badgley Music Video Cameo (Extended)
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
8:53
Highlight
Ariana Grande Talks Eternal Sunshine and Wicked, Teases Penn Badgley Music Video Cameo (Extended)
Video thumbnail
2:35
Highlight
Amyl and The Sniffers: Tiny Bikini
Video thumbnail
6:33
Highlight
Trump Gets Cybertruck Escort in Qatar, Gifted Luxury Jet That Requires Security Inspection
Video thumbnail
11:16
Highlight
Mel B Practices Walking Down the Aisle, Talks Spice Girls Reunion and America's Got Talent Return
Video thumbnail
9:33
Highlight
Salma Hayek Pinault Got Arrested at Sabrina Carpenter's Concert, Teaches Jimmy How to Pose
Video thumbnail
8:31
Highlight
Crazy Bugs with Alie Ward and Salma Hayek Pinault
Video thumbnail
0:41
Web Exclusive
Jin Is Coming Back to The Tonight Show!
Video thumbnail
1:41
Highlight
Jimmy Gives Away His New Book Papa Doesn't Do Anything!
Video thumbnail
5:37
Highlight
Desi Lydic Celebrated Mother's Day Binge-Watching TV, Talks 10-Year Anniversary at The Daily Show
Video thumbnail
8:05
Highlight
Blake Shelton's New Album Was Inspired by Post Malone, Talks No. 1 Hit "Texas" and The Voice Return
Video thumbnail
13:44
Highlight
Trump Secures $600 Billion Saudi Arabia Deal, Says He'd Be "Stupid" to Decline Plane Bribe
Video thumbnail
6:42
Highlight
Best Friends Challenge with Blake Shelton
Video thumbnail
3:10
Highlight
Blake Shelton: Texas
Video thumbnail
15:00
Highlight
Trump Accepts $400 Million Plane Bribe, Newark Airport Loses Contact in Second Outage
Video thumbnail
4:52
Highlight
Tonight Show Look-alikes: Philipp Kirkorov, Jackson Guitars Ad
Video thumbnail
5:25
Highlight
Maren Morris Talks Creating D R E A M S I C L E at Electric Lady Studios with Jack Antonoff
Video thumbnail
11:29
Highlight
Sofía Vergara Quizzes Jimmy on Colombian Phrases; Talks Golden Buzzer Stress on America's Got Talent
Video thumbnail
3:05
Highlight
Maren Morris: too good

Ariana Grande recently visited the set of Hot Ones to promote her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine, her starring role in the upcoming screen adaptation of Wicked, and endure a gauntlet of increasingly spicy hot wings. Her performance was nothing short of a magic trick, crushing one wing after another without losing even an ounce of her composure or charm. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t have expected anything less from Glinda, herself.

Ariana Grande Talks Singing Live on Set While Crushing Hot Wings

Wicked (in theaters November 22, 2024) is based on one of the most successful musicals of all time. It’s a prequel to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch. It opened on June 10, 2003, at the Curran Theater in San Francisco and premiered on Broadway on Halloween of the same year. The original production won three Tony awards and a Grammy for the original cast recording. It’s been in production ever since, only pausing in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About the Movie Adaptation of "Popular" Musical Wicked

The dual starring roles of Elphaba and Glinda (made famous on stage by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth) will be played on screen by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The production is helmed by director Jon Chu, who’s no stranger to putting music on the silver screen. His credits include Step Up 2: The Streets, Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never and Believe documentaries, Jem and the Holograms, and the screen adaptation of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s In the Heights.

During production, Chu was committed to keeping as many practical elements as possible and that extends to the vocal elements. “When we were shooting it, those girls were like... 'We’re going live,’” Chu told Vanity Fair.

“There was lots of bubble singing, which was very high up and I wasn’t harnessed. I was just kind of there,” Grande told Hot Ones host Sean Evans of her experience singing live while shooting Wicked. “I had a lot of stunty singing things, but nothing compared to Cynthia Erivo. This is my favorite thing in the entire world, watching Cynthia in her harness with a broom, a hat, wig, corset, dress, the whole thing, flipping upside down, flying around the set, singing “Defying Gravity” every take like it’s nothing. Just the most phenomenal thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Oh my god, I love her. We had to do some really insane and beautiful things for this film, and it was just so much fun.”

If even a fraction of that energy and passion comes through on screen, we’re all in for a cinematic treat when Wicked hits theaters everywhere September 22. You can also catch episodes of Hot Ones streaming on Peacock.

Glinda holds her wand up in a puffy pink dress in Wicked

When will Wicked stream on Peacock?

Wicked is now streaming on Peacock!