You won’t even believe how many awards Ariana Grande already has for playing Glinda in ‘Wicked’

Wicked fever refuses to die down, and for good reason. The movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has been raking in the awards.

Movie musicals are not always smash successes but when they are, everyone knows about them. While recent musicals like Wonka and Mean Girls have been swiftly forgotten, the themes at the center of Wicked continue to impress. Many creatives who took part in the production have earned accolades, from the Golden Globes, to the Critics Choice awards.

Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, has earned no less than six awards for her portrayal, thus far. The most recent recognition at time of writing is from the 2024 Phoenix Film Critics Society (PFCS) Awards; Grande won Best Supporting Actress in what feels to be a precursor for future, more high-profile awards recognition.

In addition to typical categories presented in other award shows, PFCS also presents their Top Ten films, Best Ensemble Film, and Best Overlooked Film of the Year. While not as extensively reported-on as televised awards, it gives credit where credit is due. Notably, Grande nabbed the only acting award given to Wicked by the PFCS.

Ariana Grande exhudes Glinda energy in Wicked

As an adaptation of the most popular stage productions of the past 20 years, the live-action Wicked film had a lot of pressure moving against it. Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel debuted the characters of Glinda and Elphaba onstage, creating an iconic moment of the time. Recreating this for the screen would be no easy feat, but the votes are in, and Wicked is a success. The film requires the central relationship to work for a satisfying film, and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande pull it off.

Erivo demonstrates powerhouse vocals for the role of Elphaba and the passion required for the emotional scenes. But perhaps the more complex role is that of Glinda. Vapid and shallow at the onset, Glinda needs to pull off the complicated trick of endearing herself to the audience by the end of the film. In part one of a two-part story, this hat trick of a performance is even more complicated to complete. And whereas Chenoweth used her natural comedic talents in the stage show to make this work, Grande in the film version appears to live in the very skin of the character.

Grande’s portrayal of the character doesn’t shy away from Glinda’s more dislikable aspects and still finds a fulfilling tension with Elphaba. Though she makes a controversial decision at the end of the film, the time the audience spends with Grande’s Glinda makes this a more nuanced and complex act. Regretably, viewers will have to wait until next year to see the musician deliver another performance of the character when Wicked: Part Two premieres.