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Wicked's Ariana Grande explains why she uses her real name in the credits

4 December 2024, 11:39 | Updated: 4 December 2024, 11:40

Ariana Grande explains why she uses her real name in Wicked's credits. Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images, Universal Pictures

By Sam Prance

Wicked's credits list Ariana Grande's birth name instead of her stage name and there's an emotional reason behind it.

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Wondering why Ariana Grande uses her birth name in Wicked's credits? Well, the reason behind it is pretty emotional.

There's no denying that Ariana Grande's performance as Glinda in Wicked is incredible. Ever since the film came out she's been wowing cinema goers worldwide with her operatic vocals, comedic charm and emotional vulnerability. In fact, Ariana's depiction of Glinda is so good that she's being tipped to get her first Oscar nomination for the role.

However, if Ariana does end up scoring an Academy Award nomination for Wicked it won't be under the name Ariana Grande. Ariana uses her real name in the credits and now she's opened up about why she's using her birth name.

Read more: Wicked's Ariana Grande reveals iconic line was almost replaced
Read more: Every actress who auditioned for Glinda in the Wicked movie

What is Ariana Grande's real name?

Behind the scenes of Wicked with Ariana Grande

Fans of Ariana Grande will already know that her actual name is Ariana Grande-Butera and it's the name she uses in Wicked's credits. Grande is Ariana's mother's surname and Butera is her father's surname. Ariana's parents split when she was eight years old and Ariana opted to go by Ariana Grande when she first started acting.

As for why she chose to use her full name for Wicked, Ariana discussed it with Justin Hill on The Streaming Service podcast. She revealed "I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways, through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba."

Ariana then added: "And, you know, that was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old. And it felt like a really lovely way of honouring that. It felt really full circle, and it just felt like something I wanted to do.”

No, I'm not crying. You are!

Ariana has famously been a fan of Wicked ever since it first debuted on Broadway. Ariana saw the original production with Idinia Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth and she even met Kristen backstage at the time.

Back in 2011, Ariana tweeted: "Loved seeing Wicked again... amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole."

10 year old Ariana Grande-Butera would be so proud!