Ariana Grande filmed an intense kiss scene for her movie Wicked: For Good – only for the steamy moment to wind up on the cutting room floor.
Her character Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good Witch, indulges in the lip-lock with her dashing husband Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).
Shortly thereafter, Fiyero leaves her for her best friend turned rival Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who has become the Wicked Witch of the West.
Now the movie’s co-writer Dana Fox has shed light on the reason the kiss was ultimately deleted from the movie musical.
‘There was a scene between Fiyero and Glinda that we cut in which they kissed; it was romantic and beautiful, but a little too passionate,’ she told Deadline.
‘Seeing that made it too hard to watch him make the choice he makes to be with Elphaba and made it too hard to make it OK that Elphaba ran off with him. It was too real that he and Glinda were actually feeling something together,’ Fox explained.
Ariana Grande filmed an intense kiss scene with Jonathan Bailey for her movie Wicked: For Good – only for the steamy moment to wind up on the cutting room floor
‘It was like a feeling that he really did love her, which he does care about Glinda a lot, don’t get me wrong. But he likes her in a different way,’ she went on.
‘But this scene was too romantic, so it was like, “Oh, we can’t know that because then our brains will explode when he doesn’t choose her in the end. And then we’ll hate Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero.” So, I think it was a good cut because it was too adorable that you simply couldn’t handle it,’ Fox concluded.
Speaking in general terms about the cuts that were made, the Stanford graduate said: ‘I don’t think there’s anything that I wish we hadn’t cut because everything we cut, I felt we cut for exactly the right reasons.’
Fox co-wrote the screenplay of the two-part movie with Winnie Holzman, who had written the book of the 2003 Broadway musical on which the films are based.
The rollout of the new movie hit the headlines when what appeared to be a crazed fan rushed Grande on the red carpet of the Singapore premiere.
Erivo, who was standing nearby, went viral for swinging into action and placing herself between Grande and the man lunging at her.
It quickly emerged that the culprit was prankster Johnson Wen, an Australian national who is also known as Pyjama Man in his career as an influencer.
His gimmick is to rush celebrities at public events, a stunt he has previously pulled at concerts by The Chainsmokers and The Weeknd.
Wicked: For Good bowed this past Friday and proved a roaring success at the box office, earning $223 million globally over its opening weekend
Her character Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good Witch, indulges in the lip-lock with her dashing husband Fiyero (Bailey)
Wen was arrested for being a ‘public nuisance’ and jailed for nine days in Singapore, after which he was deported to Australia, per the local news network CNA.
Wicked: For Good bowed this past Friday and proved a roaring success at the box office, earning $223 million globally over its opening weekend.
Domestically alone, the film netted $147 million its first weekend – the biggest opening for any Broadway adaptation, via Variety.
Meanwhile the critical reaction to the movie has been less effusive, with mixed reviews to the tune of a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
