Amanda Seyfried Lost Wicked Movie Role To Ariana Grande

Amanda Seyfried has been having musical theater dreams — specifically about Wicked and Les Misérables.

Speaking to Backstage, Amanda explained why she wasn’t a fan of her Les Mis voice and how it informed her audition for Glinda in the upcoming Wicked adaptation — a role that eventually went to Ariana Grande.

“I have dreams that I’m still auditioning for Wicked,” Amanda said.

In fact, auditions took place while Amanda was filming her role as Elizabeth Holmes 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,” she said. “I literally bent over backwards while playing the hardest role of my life.”

On the plus side, the experience showed Amanda how much she’d evolved as a singer. “It also taught me how far I’ve come as a singer, which I really wanted to prove,” she said. “Ever since Les Mis, 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.”

You might be aware that Les Mis garnered significant attention back in ye olde 2012 for having its actors sing entirely live on set. It’s arguably a big part of what got the movie its eight Oscar nominations, but it’s also faced plenty of criticism — namely that the intensely long days on set were harmful to the actors’ voices and performances.

Amanda herself played the soprano Cosette, but she wasn’t happy with her performance. She said in 2021, “I wish I could redo Les Misérables completely because the live singing aspect, I still have nightmares about it.”