There’s no denying that Jon M. Chu’s Wicked adaptations have changed many people for good. After setting box office records with Act I in 2024, the second half of the movie defied gravity even further when it hit the 2025 movie calendar last month. It’s not just the average moviegoer who has been touched by Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship, but Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s peers in Hollywood as well, and Adam Sandler had lovely things to say when he spoke with the former about Wicked: For Good.
Adam Sandler and Ariana Grande sat down together for Variety and CNN’s “Actors on Actors” series, and while I’m not sure how much overlap their fanbases have, the Sandman had nothing but praise and admiration for what she accomplished as Glinda in Wicked: For Good. He told her:
We talked about that a lot because the two girls love each other so much and then we'll talk about everything. But that movie rocked us. That rocked us, so many beautiful scenes. The last sequence was like six or seven shots where you had to be crying and feeling it and so in your character. I don't get there with ease, crying. How about you, Ariana? Is it a difficult moment from a director saying, 'Action,' and having to work up this what you're feeling?
It seems to me like when Adam Sandler talks about “we,” he’s probably referring to his wife Jackie and their daughters Sadie and Sunny — all of whom have become regular features in the Sandman’s movies. I love that they have apparently seen Wicked and Wicked: For Good and discussed the love that Glinda and Elphaba have for each other.
Adam Sandler also noted how intense things got for Ariana Grande’s character in the movie’s final act and recognized how much work it must have taken to stay in that emotionally heightened state while filming. While Grande admits to being a crier in real life, she said it’s not easy to tap into those emotions while playing a role. She said:
For me, it was just kind of about making sure I had an internal mapping of all of her root trauma wounds that I could reference so that I wasn't referencing my own pain. Because I’m not an actor who can do that.
That sounds like a super smart and healthy way to handle that situation, intentionally focusing just on Glinda’s trauma to elicit an emotional response and not using tragedies from her own life, as many actors have done (and, at least in some cases, regretted).
We’ve been fortunate enough over the past year to witness the beautiful friendship that has formed between Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and I love that Grande was paired with Adam Sandler for this conversation, as he’s never shy about showing love for his friends either.
Ariana Grande can be seen currently in Wicked: For Good, which remains in theaters as Wicked: Part I can be streamed with a Prime Video subscription. Adam Sandler also has a new movie out, as he co-stars with George Clooney in Jay Kelly, which is available to watch with a Netflix subscription.
