2024 isn’t over yet but I’m already giving the Best Acting Duo award to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, sorry, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. The two Wicked leads have been adopting method dressing for the entire press tour for the film and their styles have been evolving to what looks like the height of their potential.
Even before the official press tour for the beloved Broadway musical adaptation began, both Erivo and Grande started paying homage to their characters. The former by donning green outfits, and Grande making pink her entire raison d’être.
If you’ve been following closely their outfits as I’ve had, you will notice a very interesting pattern that culminated with their latest red carpet premiere: their amazing styles have evolved following the journey of their two characters, and the recent black-and-white contrast between Erivo and Grande is just chef’s kiss.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande brought the drama on Wicked’s press tour
Method dressing has become widely popular recently, with the actors honoring the characters they play via their fashion style while promoting the project. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande truly committed to their parts in the adaptation of Jon M. Chu’s adaptation and embraced the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, wearing a multitude of haute couture ‘fits in shares of green/ black and pink/white, respectively.
The styles wouldn’t have worked if only one of them adopted this trend and their amazing friendship allowed them to bounce off each other, a trend that even rubbed off on their co-star Jonathan Bailey’s style.
Mexico kicked off a major change in the press tour as, instead of the regular red carpet, the entire event centered around the yellow brick road from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Their characters’ journey further evolved, as Grande leaned further into The Good Witch of the South look, while Erivo adopted the Wicked Witch of the East’s dark vibe to perfection.
Grande’s stylist, Mimi Cuttrell, has been working non-stop to make Grande the most stylish actress on the red carpet. However, she pulled all the stops in Mexico City with a brand-new look that made the “7 Rings” singer look like a daydream. The actress wore a custom Atelier Versace gown again, one of the key luxury brands she has opted for during the tour.
The fairytale strapless dress had an iridescent finish and a voluminous layered dress with a V-neckline. Instead of her signature ponytail look, Grande opted to keep her blonde hair in a half-up, half-down look falling down her back and allowing the bodice gown to take the spotlight. To keep it all nice and shiny, Ari opted for shiny jewelry from Swarovski, for whom she is a brand ambassador.
Cynthia Erivo was a vision, herself, with her evil witch look. Throughout the entire press tour, Erivo proved she understood the assignment and her collab with Jason Bolden has given some of the most iconic looks, but nothing comes close to her Mexican premiere look.
Erivo was all drama with her recent gown that leaves the iconic green shades behind without losing her Elphaba inspiration. In fact, she leaned further into the Wicked Witch than ever with a custom Thom Browne Couture gown with a sparkling dress with an exaggerated waistline and a silk cropped hooded jacket with a pair of sculptural witch hands. Complete with a pair of dramatic platform heels and long fake nails further elevated the look, Cynthia Erivo’s last look was the stuff of nightmares in the best of ways.
Wicked is less than 10 days away from its premiere but fret not, there are several more red carpet looks to come, which bear the question: can Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande ever surpass these perfect fairytale looks?