Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo Talk 'Wicked': 'Defying Gravity Feels Damn Good!'

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo made a magical duo in Thom Browne and Louis Vuitton, respectively, at the “Wicked” L.A. premiere Saturday, where they chatted with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert.

The two explained the meaning behind their looks.

Cynthia said, “Tonight was the skin, so it's really about Elphaba’s greenness, skin and, like, I wanted to pick on the details that she has, so I have her freckles on tonight as well."

Ariana shared, “We were kind of doing a little bit of a Glinda-fied Dorothy and nodding to the original L. Frank Baum books with my jeweled shoes, which are not ruby slippers because that's not what's there.” (In the original novella, they were silver slippers.)

The two talked about singing together as well and how Cynthia only wanted Ariana to comp her vocals, referring to the process of piecing together the best pieces from various vocal takes.

“When we were doing the comping for rehearsals and actually for our soundtrack, we would be in the studio together, but no one really realizes that she's like a technical genius, so she can edit and comp the vocals, and she was the one that comped my vocals 'cause I trust her and she has the most amazing ear, so we would do it together and pick."

Ari, smiling, said, “Heaven on earth is having a Pro Tools session full of Cynthia Erivo takes, because it's just a pleasure and every single one is perfect — it's just a matter matter of what kind of perfect you want, so it was really fun for me.”

They also spoke about taking on the famous songs “Defying Gravity” and “Popular.” Melvin asked Cynthia what she knows about the idea of defying gravity now on the other side of this project.

Cynthia reflected, "Oh, what do I know about defying gravity? That it takes a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of bravery but when you get to do it, it feels damn good."

Ari chimed in, “What do I know about being popular that I didn't know before? I think kindness is the most important thing and laughter is the most important thing, and that's truly what makes you most popular.”

Ariana opened up about wanting to take care of the character Glinda, and how Glinda ended up taking care of her too.

She shared, “We have a lot of strange, similar, like, traumas and pains that we've been through, and I think a lot of times in my life, I felt really isolated in mine 'cause they've been, like, you know, somewhat specific, and I've had so much love and support around me.” 

She went on, “But I think playing a character that made me feel so much less alone in them because they're similar and her strength, I think, is something that I needed — her [Cynthia's] strength and Glinda's strength — is something that I really needed in my life and, yeah, it was really healing for so many reasons."

Melvin brought up "Wicked: Part 2," which comes out in a year, asking, "What are you most excited for people to see?"

Cynthia admitted, “I'm really excited for you to see their growth, where they get to in their friendship as well as, how that deepens — and also, we look hot!"

Ariana said, “I love your smoky eye in movie two. I'm mostly excited for people to see Elphaba’s smoky eye in movie two. It looks like Elphaba’s performing on the Billboard Music Awards, you know what I mean? With her rock band."

 “Wicked” is in theaters November 22.