The Wicked movie’s version of ‘Popular’ almost sounded very different. Then Ariana Grande stepped in

Star shut down any talk of a hip-hop rendition of the song

Ariana Grande put her foot down when it came to making one major change in the film adaptation of Wicked.

The 31-year-old pop star plays Glinda the Good alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp. The story follows two friends whose relationship reaches a crossroads, with the actors drawing some mockery after a series of teary interviews promoting the film.

While some have hit out at the movie’s “washed out” appearance, it has generally been received positively, breaking box office records in the process.

Wicked, based on the Broadway stage adaptation, is also an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,which is meant to be a prequel to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation.

But while the movie made some changes in its transition to the big screen, there was one thing Grande refused to support. There was no way she was having a hip-hop version of the song “Popular”.

The song sees Grande’s character extol the virtues of being popular as she teaches the awkward and misunderstood Elphaba how to flirt and fit in.

“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,” Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist for the original Broadway show, told the Los Angeles Times.

However, he said the “One Last Time” singer shut down that suggestion immediately and is reported to have said, “’Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.’”

Schwartz said, “That was something she was very insistent on.”

Grande was not having a hip-hop version of ‘Popular’ (Universal Pictures)

Explaining that the singer suggested tweaks throughout her involvement in the film, he described her contributions as “inventive”.

“She does little inventive things within it, but I think they are strongly character-based,” he said.

The movie’s choreographer Christopher Scott explained, “This whole ‘communicators’ [motion where Grande raises her arms], that physicality was her paying homage to Kristin Chenoweth in a way.

I was so grateful for that, to have an actor who has that much love and care for not just the character she’s playing, but the whole Wicked legacy.”