Ariana Grande has revealed that she and Cynthia Erivo went out of their way to make sure they were both being fairly paid for their work on Wicked.
The pair are currently riding a huge wave of success off the back of their performances as Glinda and Elphaba in the hit movie musical, and have even been tipped for Oscar nominations at next year’s ceremony.
But their friendship has also continued off-screen, with the two actors making no secret of how close they grew while making the film.
In fact, Ariana has said this began right away.
Speaking at a SAG-AFTRA Foundation talk last week, the Grammy winner explained: “When I got my contract, I called [Cynthia], and was like, ’Hey let’s go through this thing. Let’s go beat by beat through this together and make sure we are aligned in what we need. If [you need] something, we need it together.”
Ariana added that she was keen for herself and Cynthia to “have each other’s backs”.
“Your problems become my problems and mine become yours,” she recalled telling the Oscar nominee.
Last month, the production company behind Wicked was forced to speak out about rumours that started on social media, alleging that Ariana was paid as much as 15 times more than her co-star.
A spokesperson for Universal insisted the two were actually paid the same, and speculation to the contrary was “completely false and based on internet fodder”.
Cynthia recently opened up to Yahoo Entertainment about how she and Ariana agreed to look out for one another from the get-go.
“There was a clear choice at the very beginning of this to do that and to take care of each other, to be honest,” the British performer said. “To always make the space for one another, which I think has just allowed us to really grow as performers and in our personal lives as well.
“I think it’s been really special to do that.”