Why Ariana Grande’s credited under her birth name for ‘Wicked’

Why Ariana Grande’s credited under her birth name for ‘Wicked’
Universal Studios

When the Wicked film opens in theaters later in November, you’ll see Ariana Grande credited under a different name.

Ariana, who plays Glinda in the film, is credited onscreen as Ariana Grande-Butera, which is her birth name. Butera is her father’s surname; her mom’s last name is Grande. On the podcast The Streaming Service with Justin Hill, Ari explained that it was a way of marking what a full-circle moment the movie is for her.

“Technically, it’s my little girl name,” she said. “Technically it’s little Ari’s name … I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me.”

“You know, that was my name when I went to see [Wicked] when I was 10 years old,” she continued. “And it felt like a really lovely way of honoring that.”

So far, the reviews for Wicked, which hits theaters Nov. 22, have been magical, with some predicting Oscar nominations for Ariana and her co-star Cynthia Erivo.

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