Ariana Grande has seen the memes and jokes about her accent in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked, something that the superstar musician chalks up to just being a double standard.
Speaking to Vanity Fair for a recent cover shoot profile with her and Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, Grande said that most people don’t understand what it takes to transform your voice or develop an accent or different speaking dialect for a role.
Grande went on to critique the jokes, noting that when male actors develop seemingly odd voices for projects, they are often praised for it.
What did Ariana Grande say about her Wicked accent?
“There is a part of the world that isn’t familiar with what it takes to transform your voice, whether it’s singing or taking on a different dialect for a role or doing a character voice for something,” Grande said. “When it’s a male actor that does it, it’s acclaimed. There are definitely jokes that are made as well, but it’s always after being led with praise: ‘Oh, wow, he was so lost in the role.’ And that’s just a part of the job, really. Tale as old as time being a woman in this industry. You are treated differently, and you are under a microscope in a way that some people aren’t.”
Grande’s voice has always been something that the internet has treated with jokes. Over the summer, the star’s appearance on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast drew attention when Grande mentioned that she sometimes intentionally changed her vocal placement depending on a song she was singing.
“It’s something that I’m just really proud of,” Grande said of the viral moments. “Part of why I did want to engage [on TikTok] is because I am really proud of my hard work and of the fact that I did give 100% of myself, including my physicality, to this role. I am proud of that, so I wanted to protect it.”
The Wicked musical is based on a 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire and Douglas Smith. The novel is based on the classic 1900 L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
Wicked: Part One releases in U.S. theaters on November 22, 2024. The sequel, Wicked: Part Two, is currently set for November 21, 2025.
(Source: Vanity Fair)
