Ariana Grande makes a notable return to the big screen in “Wicked”. And it is under a new name that spectators will discover it.
An unexpected decision. Star of the two-part adaptation of the musical “Wicked,” Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda the Good Witch, is credited under her full name, Ariana Grande-Butera, in the film’s credits, according to E! News.
After her parents separated when she was 8 years old, Ariana Grande lost contact with her father, Ed Butera, in 2014. Since then, she has chosen to use her mother’s last name, Joan Grande. His close bond with his maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande, would also have influenced this choice.
In an interview with Seventeen in 2015, the pop star confided that this family breakup had been “one of the hardest things” she had experienced, explaining: “It’s private… I put a lot of effort into time to accept it. I inherited a lot of traits from my father, and for a long time, I didn’t like that about myself. I had to accept that it is possible to not get along with someone and still love them.
Father and daughter together at the 2020 Grammy Awards
The singer discussed her relationship with her father in the song “Thank U, Next” (2018), with the lyrics: “One day I’ll walk down the aisle/holding my mother’s hand/I’ll thank my dad ’cause that she grew up thanks to the drama.
However, in recent years, father and daughter seem to have made peace, with the artist having been joined by her parents on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in 2020.
Ariana Grande’s half-brother, Frank James Michael Grande Marchione, son of Joan Grande and Victor Marchione, also dropped his surname and chose the name Franckie Grande.
“Wicked”, which explores the unexpected friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, two witches with opposing visions in the magical world of Oz, will be released in theaters on December 4, the second part is scheduled for November 26, 2025.
