Ariana Grande shares meaningful reason she used her full name in ‘Wicked’ credits

When the “Wicked” film opens in theaters later this month, you’ll see Ariana Grande credited under a slightly different name.
The “we can’t be friends” singer, who plays Glinda in the film, is credited onscreen with her birth name: Ariana Grande-Butera. Butera is her father’s surname; Her mom’s last name is Grande.
While doing press for “Wicked” alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo, Grande told reporter and podcast host Justin Hill her decision to use her full name was a way to mark what a full-circle moment the movie is for her.
“Technically, it’s my little girl name,” she said when asked about using her full “grown-up” name. “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.”
“You know, that was my name when I went to see [‘Wicked’ on Broadway] when I was 10 years old,” she continued. “And it felt like a really lovely way of honoring that. It felt really full circle and it just felt like something I wanted to do.”
The moment has been shared to Hill’s TikTok account and has since gone viral with over 147,000 views and counting.
“Wicked” arrives in theaters Nov. 22.