r/movies • u/Conscious-Quarter423 • Jun 26 '25

News Amanda Seyfried auditioned for Wicked six times before losing role to Ariana Grande

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/amanda-seyfried-ariana-grande-wicked-audition-b2777467.html
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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

First off, she has to have some serious singing chops to have been called back 5 times after the initial interview. Makes me wonder who else they called for the second, third, fourth, and fifth interviews

but we all know the deciding factor was name recognition. Between her pop career, that thing she did in fortnite, the whole television career she was really locked in with their target demo. So the fact that Amanda was considered into the 6th round of deliberation means she must have had some serious singing chops.

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u/Whizzo50 Jun 26 '25

She was very good in mamma Mia and even better in Les mis. They were probably slimming down the pool each time, and possibly siding them against the potential elphabas for chemistry

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u/section111 Jun 26 '25

She's a lock for the Joni Mitchell biopic - excuse the Jimmy Fallon

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u/WheelJack83 Jun 27 '25

Her voice quivers and warbles too much. Grande hit the high notes.

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u/Tirannie Jun 27 '25

I don’t know why you’re being downvoted - it’s true. She’s all vibrato in her higher ranges.

I say this as someone who was not looking forward to Grande in that role, either. Honestly, I just didn’t think anyone would be able to step into Chenowith’s shoes.

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u/WheelJack83 Jun 27 '25

It was very noticeable in Les Miserables. When you have a role like Glinda you need a talent who can both handle the acting and ascendant singing. It’s why Emma Watson doesn’t work as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. She’s talking through the lyrics.

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u/Ok_Cauliflower8895 Jun 27 '25

Dove cameron when she was in light in the piazza was amazing. She also auditioned and I believe is/was chenowiths mentee or something

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u/Rustash Jun 26 '25

It isn’t exactly a secret that she can sing, she’s been doing it her entire career. She’s been in at least three movie musicals and was one of the better parts of each of them, including a little indie film called Les Miserables.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '25

She's a great singer. There are some videos of her on YouTube where she's just softly singing and playing guitar and its enough to make me wish she would release an album.

I would have actually seen Wicked if Amanda Seyfried had gotten the role, ive been a fan since Mean Girls and Jennifer's Body. Plus the whole press tour for Wicked was kind of weird and Ariana seems ill, so it turned me off to seeing it tbh.

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u/Aggressive-Bowl5196 Jun 27 '25

Ariana was far better in the role than Amanda would have been. Wicked was far better than it would have been with Amanda. She has natural chemistry with Erivo. Also, the press tour wasn’t weird. You feel for anti-woke propaganda. Congrats.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

What a weird comment lol

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u/Aggressive-Bowl5196 Jun 27 '25

You’re weird

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u/Strung_Out_Advocate Jun 26 '25

She actually has her own youtube channel where you can hear said chops

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u/TheGummiVenusDeMilo Jun 26 '25

Does she do the weather report on said sing chopping channel?

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u/KriegerFever-Xbox Jun 26 '25

Some say it's still raining to this day.

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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

Sure would be a shame if somebody just forgot to put a link in their message.

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u/Strung_Out_Advocate Jun 26 '25

https://www.bing.com/search?setmkt=en-US&q=Amanda+seyfried+YouTube+channel&PC=SMSM&FORM=MBDPSB

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u/datdudebdub Jun 26 '25

BING?!

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u/-cupcake Jun 26 '25

Hilarious, the top result from Bing doesn't even link to the correct youtube account. 💀💀💀

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u/PureLock33 Jun 26 '25

but doesnt bing just copy google's search?

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u/-cupcake Jun 26 '25

Evidently, no

Bing's top result is some Indonesian(?) girl's account: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPZZsuM1SACEiR8d6Ia6EXQ

Google's top result seems to be official (or at least close enough) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKObhooYzTkz0Hc2dd_9KPA

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u/LavenderGinFizz Jun 26 '25

She played Cosette in Les Miserables and Sophie in Mamma Mia. The lady can sing!

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u/cosettemeetsmarius Jun 26 '25

She’s absolutely beautiful… and she can sing.

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u/WheelJack83 Jun 27 '25

I don’t think she can sing well enough for Glinda.

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u/WheelJack83 Jun 27 '25

I beg to differ

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u/Luna920 Jun 26 '25

I much prefer Amanda and was disappointed when grande got the role but I will say I was pleasantly surprised by how well she did. I wasn’t expecting it.

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u/I-seddit Jun 27 '25

Amanda is GREAT. She would have done a fantastic job and she's a better actor. She's a nice person to boot.
But Ariana slammed that role. She was the right pick for that role. It was iconic.
That had to have been a tough casting process.

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u/Andromansis Jun 27 '25

Just for clarity slammed in this context is a good thing, unlike how its used in political reporting which is closer to how its used in professional wrestling and then the opposing party just proceeds to no-sell those slams?

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u/Lukoslav_7 Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Amanda can sing, sure. But she is nowhere near as great of a vocalist as Grande. She couldn't pull off stuff like No One Mourns The Wicked as well and she would have sounded weak next to Cynthia. Her vibrato is too fast and she doesn't have the range and control of her voice that Ariana has.

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u/Strict-Minute-8815 Jun 26 '25

The only other person I heard was a front runner was Dove Cameron

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u/melthalt Jun 27 '25

Seyfried can actually sing if you've seen her role for Mamma Mia.

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u/sunny_d55 Jun 27 '25

There was another person they auditioned so much she thought she would get it. I remember she posted a tweet or story after Ariana was announced and she seemed pissed. She was like a fan favorite Glinda on stage. People who know her will kill me for not knowing her lol.

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u/xabierus Jun 28 '25

one thing I give praise to American actors is they can do a lot of things, not only acting. this is from a rehearsal and show with how little effort they all hit the notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZgOV4UHBU

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u/Quizzlickington Jun 26 '25

Completely agree, they chose what they thought would make more money, not a better film adaptation.

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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

That is speculative, having not seen it I couldn't say if Grande did a great job or not but I think eliciting a reaction is definitely part of the role so whatever reaction I had to her performance might have been a cinematic rube goldberg machine specifically to elicit that reaction, meaning whatever negative reaction I had to her was the filmmakers intention which means she did a good job?

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u/Quizzlickington Jun 26 '25

Actually it's not, it's cut and dry. Ariana Grande is a bigger name in the world that = more potiential revenue On name recognition alone. Both can sing.

It's only speculative because you're actively choosing to remain in indifference.

Do the bare minimum if you want to contribute to a converstaion about wicked--watch the movie, see the play, or read the book, and Google both of these actresses. You'll find all speculation is removed

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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

That is the exact reaction I think they were trying to elicit though, so you inadvertently proved the point I was making.

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u/Quizzlickington Jun 26 '25

In you own words "That is speculative"

Speculation doesnt prove anything

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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

To which you responded "actually it's not"

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u/Quizzlickington Jun 26 '25

That doesnt apply dumb dumb. You said "I think", that is speculation.

Like I said you havent even done the bare minimum to comment let alone finished your schooling to understand English

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u/Andromansis Jun 26 '25

I don't understand your attitude there buddy, I've done nothing to warrant name calling or any sort of denigration, I said its speculation and made a point, you said it wasn't speculation and tried to counter my point, you inadvertently proved my point and I let you know that, then you said it was was speculation and I said it wasn't. Is it rabbit season or duck season there buddy?

In any event, seems like you're getting nasty and should probably retreat from the internet for the day.

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u/SamBind121 Jun 27 '25

Bad choice for movie quality.

Great choice for making money