Although Wicked-ly talented, Amanda Seyfried will not be playing Glinda the Good Witch in the upcoming film adaptation of the hit Broadway show.
It was previously announced that Ariana Grande would be taking on the role in the Wizard of Oz prequel, Wicked, which is set to begin filming later this year.
Grande will star as Glinda opposite Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
The Sweetener singer shared the exciting news of landing the role in November of last year while giving an ode to one of Glinda’s songs in her caption – “Thank Goodness.”
In a recent interview, Amanda Seyfried opened up about her long audition process for the role of Glinda and how playing the character was a “long-held dream” of hers.
Seyfried auditioning for the part comes as no surprise, as she has been a large part of movie musicals in the past — portraying the leading roles of Cosette in Les Miserables and Sophie in both Mamma Mia films.
Amanda Seyfried’s Wicked audition and losing to Ariana Grande
The actress, 36, revealed to Backstage that she was auditioning for Wicked while still filming her Hulu series, The Dropout.
“I have dreams that I’m still auditioning for Wicked,” she said. “Last summer while I was playing Elizabeth [on The Dropout], on the weekends I was auditioning in person to play Glinda in the movie version of Wicked—because I wanted it that much that I was like, ‘You know what? Yeah, I have to play the last scene of The Dropout on Tuesday. I’ll give my Sunday to you.’”
She continued to say that although the audition process had her “bending over backwards,” she was still grateful to have proven to herself that she had grown as a singer even though she did not land the role.
“I literally bent over backwards while playing the hardest role of my life,” Seyfried said. “But I think it also taught me how far I’ve come as a singer, which I really wanted to prove. Because ever since ‘Les Miz,’ I was like, I need to be better. I need to do better. So whatever comes next in terms of musicals, I’m finally prepared.”
Seyfried on her recent Hulu series The Dropout
Although the actress may have been running around behind the scenes, she recently broke bounds as the star of her new show The Dropout.
The series, which premiered in March of this year, stars Seyfried as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire Elizabeth Holmes. The show follows the rise and fall of Holmes’ attempt to create and manage the company Theranos before putting millions of patients’ health at risk.
The series originally stemmed from the podcast The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial, which takes listeners inside the courtroom while breaking down all of the evidence involved in her trial.
Although Amanda Seyfried may not have gotten the role of Glinda in Wicked, her role as Elizabeth in The Dropout did just land her a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series at this year’s Emmy Awards.