Ariana Grande has responded to her Wicked: For Good co-star Cynthia Erivo’s snubbing by the Actor Awards (formerly known as the SAG Awards).
Erivo, 39, who led the hit musical sequel as the green-skinned witch Elphaba, had been nominated for the award last year for her turn in the first Wicked, but was absent from this year’s list of nominees.
The film’s director, John M Chu, was also absent from the nominees at the Directors Guild of America Awards.
Grande, who was nominated this year for her supporting turn as Glinda, was asked about the omissions in a new interview with Variety.
“There aren’t enough flowers on this earth for Jon M. Chu,” she said. “He’s an extraordinary human being and director, This film will be watched for decades to come. He set out to move people, to challenge them, to make them better allies and better humans and he succeeded.
“The impact of his work and Cynthia’s Elphaba is undeniable,” she continued. “Cynthia’s performance is the most truthful, vulnerable and fierce Elphaba we’ve seen, and it will be referenced and adored for generations.
“That can’t be taken away.”
The actor and pop star went on to insist that her snubbed collaborated deserved “flowers” despite the lack of recognition by the awards bodies.
“That’s why I say every good thing that happens to me belongs to them, too,” she added. “None of this exists in isolation. We informed each other every single day. Of course, it’s hard – they deserve all the flowers this world can grow.”
The actors’ and directors’ guild awards are often seen as significant omens in the build-up to the Academy Awards, with the Oscars voting body containing significant overlap with these groups.
Erivo is not expected to receive an Oscar nomination this year, despite being nominated for the first Wicked. Jessie Buckley is the current favourite for the prize, for her performance in the literary adaptation Hamnet. Her main competitor may be Rose Byrne, who is widely predicted to be nominated for her performance in the acerbic comedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
This week, it was reported that the book upon which Wicked is based, Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, had been banned from public schools in the state of Utah.
Maguire’s novel was adapted into a stage musical in 2003, which was later adapted for the screen in two parts.
