No one praises Wicked quite like Billie Eilish — especially when she’s in full fangirl mode for Ariana Grande, as seen when she interviewed her musical idol after a screening of the movie musical in Hollywood on Tuesday night. The Q&A session, which took place for Academy and guild members at the Directors Guild of America’s theater, had Eilish moderating at the personal request of the film’s Oscar-nominated Glinda.
“My team was like, ‘Who would be a cool person to do this? Who’s your dream person?’” Grande shared at the start. “I was like, ‘Billie, [but] she’s not gonna say yes.’ She’s too busy. She’s too fabulous. It’s too much. But she said ‘Yes,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, shit. Now I’m so nervous.’”
Eilish enthusiastically shared her fangirl credentials. “I love this girl so much and I love this movie so much and I love you. And I still use the YouTube channel that… has been my personal channel since I was about 11. I was just in the car telling my mom that you can find old interviews of you from like 2014 with Billie Eilish comments like, ‘I’m Team Ari.’ I didn’t realize that they were still up, but there’s many things where I commented like, ‘God, I just love Ariana so much.’ And I used to call you ‘Ari’ to my brother [Finneas], and he’d be like, ‘Don’t call her Ari, you don’t know her!’”
Having established herself as a “Honeymoon Avenue” fan from the start, the conversation shifted to the movie, with the FYC logo still visible on the big screen. Eilish admitted she felt a bit awkward in her role, saying, “I’m not supposed to be doing this kind of thing.” She then praised Grande, calling her “one of the greatest singers of our generation,” and when Grande attempted to return the compliment, Eilish quickly interrupted: “This is not about me, ma’am.”
Grande shared a well-known story about how early in the process of creating the film’s music, there was a proposal to modernize “Popular” with a new rhythm, which she cautiously told Wicked composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz didn’t feel true to the character. “I do feel in a way like the nerdy Oz historian that worked on the movie — I felt like a protective nerd, like the gatekeeping fan girl in the room… How different would life be today if ‘Popular’ had trap drums in it? It’s just, there’s a time and place, and it’s not with Glinda, because she claps on one and the three. And that’s OK. But we have to be in character, and she doesn’t have that kind of rhythm.”
Ariana Grande
Chris Willman/Variety
When Eilish asked about the audition process, Grande revealed that there was a brief period where the production team was considering her for either of the lead roles, though she had already set her heart on one.
“I went in for my first audition, and I think at the time they weren’t sure what part I would sing or be right for,” Grande explained. “So they did have me sing four songs: ‘No One Mourns the Wicked,’ ‘Popular,’ ‘Wizard and I’ and ‘Defying Gravity.’ But, like, I was in all pink. It was obvious! No one was hiding anything. I just think that they were very thorough, so they had me do all of those multiple times. And then I had my callback, which had scenes, and we did dialogue and more Glinda songs — just for Glinda at that point.”
Later, she added, “I had my final screen test, my chemistry test with two different Elphabas. Miraculously, neither of them were Cynthia [Erivo]. We never screen-tested together. Thank goodness. You know, can you imagine if we met and it just went horribly wrong?”
Even at that late stage in the audition process, Grande explained how meticulous the process was: “My final chemistry test was three hours, and I was a basket case by the end. And I remember I was like, ‘I’ve left everything else in this room. You know what, I’m gonna stick my lashes on the mirror.’ And I just left them because they were poking up, because I’ve been crying so much. It was long and thorough — as it should have been, because these roles have to be earned. And we worked really hard and it was the most gratifying work ever. And, yeah, it’s like, the right thing won’t pass you by, you know?”
“You earned it, dude,” Eilish affirmed.
Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande
Chris Willman/Variety
“Sorry that was so long,” Grande apologized.
“We want it!” Eilish exclaimed.
“I went all the way back to my date of birth,” Grande joked.
Eilish then asked about Grande’s vocal preparation for the film. “I started training my voice three months before my first audition, just because I wanted to have the muscles in my voice get used to singing in a very different way,” Grande explained. “I’ve always had a high voice, but it’s very different than the register that I used to sing pop music, which is what I was mainly doing. And just like any other muscles in your body, your vocal cords just get used to what they’re trained slowly and surely and taught to do. And when I’m singing pop, I’m usually using my mix and my belt and/or whistles, with a little bit of falsetto in between. But Glinda lives in that falsetto. So it’s just kind of spending a lot more time there and then training your vowels and your consonants and your vibrato to act differently. And that’s such a pivotal piece of the puzzle when it comes to Glinda — that coloratura, authentic operatic soprano style of singing. So it was very important to have it be healthy and warm, and it took a lot of work.”
Grande added, “I was on a long flight the other day and my vocal coach, Eric Vetro, who’s amazing, texted me and we were reminiscing together, and I went all the way back in my voice notes to our early lessons in 2021… You can hear [how] the airiness … goes away and it sounds fuller and fuller as the weeks go by. So, just repetition and muscle training and being careful and cautious, and then by the time you get to set, you don’t have to think about that anymore because the muscles have developed a new memory.”
Eilish admitted that she had been a skeptic when rumors spread before the film’s release that much of the singing in the movie was done live on set. “I got into an argument before I’d seen the movie,” Eilish shared, “because I saw the trailer and I was like, ‘Somebody said they’re singing live. What are [they] talking about? There’s just absolutely no way that they’re singing live.’ And I got scolded, and my friend was like, ‘No, no, dude. They are singing live and it’s amazing.’ … I know that it took like, what, a year and a half to shoot everything, and I’m sure many days to shoot one scene. And I’m wondering about the continuity of it all and how you managed to keep that up in terms of not just singing, but also just being Glinda and keeping her exact state of mind for the same scene, for multiple days?”
It didn’t feel that strange, Grande responded. “When it comes to the singing side… you know what it’s like to do a tour? We’re doing so many shows in a row. And Cynthia and I are both Broadway girls. We know what it’s like to do eight shows a week. So it’s imperative, I think, for the emotional integrity of what happens in the scenes [to maintain] the ability to improv. Like, you can’t be married to a track; you can’t be sort of married to certain choices. You have to be able to have the freedom to surprise each other and play and make things up on the spot.
“Or, if it’s an emotional scene, you’re not gonna sound perfect,” Grande continued. “Your voice is gonna crack, and that’s really special to preserve that and to have that option available. It’s just sort of what we love to do — we love to sing … There are so many amazing Glindas and Elphabas who do it eight shows a week, so if we have to do it 27 takes in a row, we’re gonna do it in solidarity with our sister witches.”
Grande also shared that sound mixer Simon Hayes and his team turned the whole set into a recording studio. “No matter what happened, if a gust of wind came and hit this mic, there was a mic in Elphie’s hat, so we’re covered,” she said. “Then there was a boom over us and then there were two on each one of my [lapels] here. It was beautiful — they turned everything into a recording studio.”
At this point, Grande paused to enjoy the moment. “This is so much fun. I’m very content,” she told Eilish.
“OK, a few more songs. And then we go, because we’re only allowed a few more songs,” Eilish said, quickly catching herself. “Did I say songs? Oh my God. I meant questions. I’m on tour, you guys. I’m used to saying that. Sorry.”
“We do need to do that, though,” said Grande as audience members started requesting an impromptu duet, which the two performers declined.
Reading from a sheet of paper, Eilish asked, “Have you caught the bug?” Grande gave her a skeptical look before Eilish apologized for the question. “Didn’t you write those?” Grande asked. “I didn’t write that,” Eilish replied, explaining, “That’s the only thing I actually read out” [that was suggested for her to ask].
“The question is, ‘Have you caught the fucking bug?’” Grande repeated, laughing, before addressing the core question about pursuing more acting roles.
“I would love that. But I’m thankful because I feel like I have so many beautiful artistic outlets,” Grande shared. “We are so lucky to be able to do so many artistic things. You know, we wear many hats, and we’re so lucky to be able to do that. So yeah, the bugs are plenty.”
Billie Eilish
Chris Willman/Variety
