Ariana Grande was less than enthused when it was suggested that her character’s signature song could be reworked in the new Wicked movie.
The Grammy-winning singer has received a wave of praise for her performance as Glinda in the film, in which she shares the screen with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
Composer Stephen Schwartz – who wrote the songs in the original Broadway musical – told the Los Angeles Times that when it came to putting together the big-screen adaptation, he felt it might be time for a “refresh”.
“In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, ‘let’s refresh the rhythm. Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit’,” he recalled.
These plans were short-lived, though, once Ariana heard what the team had in mind.
“Ariana said, ‘Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda’,” he continued.
In fact, Popular was a song that was already close to Ariana’s heart long before she was even cast as Glinda.
Back in 2012 – two years before her breakthrough moment with the number one hit Problem, and almost a decade before she landed the role of Glinda – the future chart-topper teamed up with Mika on the duet Popular Song, which interpolated the Wicked tune.
Elsewhere in his interview with the LA Times, Stephen revealed that Ariana was more receptive to a different tweak to Popular.
“I had this idea for a new vocal ending,” he explained. “Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her that if I had thought of it for the original show, this is how it would have been.
“Once she was reassured that this new bit of music was coming out of character, she was on board.”
Wicked is in cinemas now. Read our review of the film here.