Cynthia Erivo carried a little bit of Arianna Grande's Glinda the Good Witch with her when appearing on TODAY from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
When TODAY's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb asked about her relationship with Grande, Erivo pointed out a ring memento she was wearing in honor of Grande and her "Wicked" character, Glinda. The two star in the "Wicked" film adaptation that debuts in December. It was first announced in 2016.
"I have my little pink ring on today," she said. "My Glinda."
Erivo herself wore a green ensemble, seemingly a reference to her own character, Elphaba, who is known as the Wicked Witch of the West.
Sharing more about Grande, Erivo said: "She's just one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever met."
"We've had such a wonderful time doing this together and we've had such an experience learning about each other, learning about what we need and supporting one another. She's stuck with me," she added.
"Wicked" is a beloved Broadway musical and is a reimagining of "The Wizard of Oz," inspired by Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West."
In the musical, Elphaba develops a challenging, ever-evolving friendship with Glinda the Good Witch. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively.
Given that friendship is the cornerstone of "Wicked," Erivo and Grande have been developing their own relationship outside of their characters.
They posed together at the 2024 Met Gala red carpet with wickedly wonderful looks. While holding hands and laughing intermittently, pictures captured Grande in an iridescent, strapless Loewe gown and Erivo in a two-piece Thom Browne gown donned with pink flower petals.
On the 2022 Grammys red carpet, Erivo gave E!'s Laverne Cox more details about the highly anticipated project.
Erivo said for the audition, she had to sing all "the big ones" from the musical. Specifically, Elphaba's powerful songs "The Wizard and I," "Defying Gravity" and "For Good."
She also teased her upcoming partnership with Grande, both on-screen and off. Of all the songs (including the, well, popular song "Popular,") Erivo is most looking forwarding to singing the duet "For Good" with Grande.
The song speaks to Glinda and Elphaba's strong, unexpected bond. "When we get to sing that, it will be a very special moment for us," Erivo said.
On the SAG Awards red carpet in February 2022, Erivo told Cox about how they have been preparing for the roles.
"Ariana and I have been meeting and chatting and talking and building our own relationship because we know that it's a sisterhood and we want to be ready and prepared to be there for one another," Erivo told Cox, per People.
The two "Wicked" stars have also been hanging out frequently. "It's the most delightful thing ever," Erivo said. "We sat for like three hours on the floor of my house and just chatted and talked about everything."
