‘It could have been a bomb’: Kristin Chenoweth reveals the roles she almost took instead of Glinda in ‘Wicked’

When it comes to show business, you just never know. Anything could break through the noise and become a hit, but there are no sure things. With hindsight being 20/20, it’s easy to say that a Broadway smash like Wicked was destined for greatness. However, according to original star Kristin Chenoweth, it was no sure thing, and she almost took some other roles instead.

What they are will definitely surprise you. Chenoweth appeared as Glinda the Good Witch in the original Broadway run of Wicked, a role now being handled by pop singer Ariana Grande in the upcoming movie adaptation. The show is loosely based on a Winnie Holzman novel of the same name, which is in turn based on the timeless 1900 novel The Wizard of Oz. It tells the story from the point of view of two witches:  Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo in the movie, Idina Menzel on Broadway) and Glinda (Chenoweth).

In a recent interview on The View, Chenoweth was asked what it was like to see the character she played along with Menzel being portrayed on the big screen. “Emotional. For any actor you, pray that what you do leaves a handprint on the world, and you know, [Menzel] and I feel like we did that. I feel like we set [it] in stone and Cynthia and Ariana [brought] it home.”

Chenoweth went on to explain that she wasn’t even sure if she was going to do the show, proving the old adage that you just don’t know whether something will be successful or not. “It could’ve been a bomb you guys. Who knows? And I didn’t know. But it wasn’t,” she said with a laugh. Because of that uncertainty, she explained that she had some other offers on the table she was considering. One of those was an unnamed show with Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim. That had to be a tough one to turn down.

The other part, you might ask? Oh, only a role on The West Wing, the Aaron Sorkin drama that was hugely successful for its run. The decision to turn that down was not an easy one, Chenoweth said. “I just like thought about it and prayed took my time. You know when you get quiet you can hear? I thought, you know maybe I’m taking a big risk here, but without risk you don’t know.”

Talk about a payoff. She took a risk, it paid off and now Grande is playing the part in a movie. Turns out, Chenoweth met Grande when the latter was just 10 years old. She revealed that Grande told her very succinctly: “I wanna play that role.” At the premiere on Nov. 9, Chenoweth and Menzel, along with their on-screen counterparts Grande and Erivo, all posed for pictures together along with the rest of the original cast.

According to E!, Grande said on the red carpet that she called Chenoweth when she got the role and that they both cried “like dolphins.” Chenoweth said Grande told her that she wanted to make her proud and “pay homage” to her. Chenoweth’s reply? “‘You will do all of that, but put your own stamp on it.’ And she did.”