Dove Cameron may not have landed the role of Glinda in the upcoming Wicked film, but she's still "really, really excited to see it."
The multi-hyphenate, 27, revealed to The Wrap during a Schmigadoon! Season 2 event in North Hollywood that she indeed "went out" for the role in Jon M. Chu's two films during the audition process. The role, of course, has since gone to fellow children's television alum and music superstar Ariana Grande.
"I know that for everybody who did go out for it, it was a very long process," Cameron said. "It was one of the longer processes I've been a part of."
Cameron, who works alongside the original Glinda Kristen Chenoweth on Schmigadoon!, added that despite not being cast, she's "so excited for Ariana," 29, who she called "a living icon."
"She's a genuinely dear friend of mine. We met when we were super young. I think she's gonna kill it," Cameron told The Wrap. "I think the whole cast is phenomenal, head to toe. So, as a fan, I'm really, really excited to see it."
Grande and Cameron have rubbed shoulders before, as both entered the business at a relatively young age — with Cameron starring on Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie from 2013 to 2017, and Grande appearing on Nickelodeon's Victorious and Sam & Cat from 2010 to 2014. The pair also appeared in Hairspray Live! together back in 2016.
In 2019, Cameron revealed to ET that performing as Glinda would be "the role of a lifetime" for her. "I've been dreaming of it since I was seven. I mean, I should be so lucky to be considered," she added.
Wicked, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters in November 2024, will also feature Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Additional cast members include Bowen Yang, Keala Settle, Marissa Bode, Brownwyn James, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Jonathan Bailey, and many more.
Luckily for fans of the musical, while they may have to wait some time for a first taste on the big screen, Grande has been updating followers on the film's process. Last month, she and Erivo, 36, shared a collaborative post on Instagram of some sweet behind-the-scenes moments, writing "up to (no) good 🫧 🧹."
The adaptation of the Tony-winning Wicked — which is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire — will differ slightly from its stage version or other iterations. As previously reported, director Chu has promised to stay true to the heart of the story, announcing in April 2022 that he's eyeing two separate films.
In a letter he shared on social media, Chu explained, "As we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it. As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years."
Recently, Jeff Goldblum was announced to be involved in the film, and he was joined backstage by Erivo and Grande at the Royal Festival Hall in London, as he was performing a show with his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.
"I was just on the set of Wicked. I'm not supposed to talk about that. But it's been out and about," Goldblum said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
"You should see our witches — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — very good."
