If you’ve been on the internet at all in the last two years, you know the vibe around Ariana Grande has shifted. It’s not just a new album or a different haircut. It feels like she basically swapped lives with a different person. Seeing Ariana Grande before and after Wicked is like looking at two different timelines that somehow merged in a London movie studio.
She didn't just play Glinda; she kind of let the character take over her lease.
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Honestly, the transformation is a lot to process. We’re talking about a pop star who built an entire empire on high ponytails, oversized hoodies, and a very specific "baddie" aesthetic that dominated the 2010s. Now? She’s soft. She’s blonde. She’s singing in a register that would make a Victorian opera singer sweat.
The Vocal Overhaul: More Than Just a High Note
Most people think Ariana just walked onto the set and started singing. Wrong. She actually started training three months before she even had her first audition. She knew she couldn't just "Ariana-fy" the songs.
During the Ariana Grande before and after Wicked transition, her voice underwent a literal structural change. She worked with vocal coach Eric Vetro to rebuild her placement. In her pop days, she relied on a lot of "thick" vocal fold engagement—think the belt in "Dangerous Woman." For Glinda, she had to master coloratura soprano.
It’s a totally different muscle memory.
- Placement: She moved from a forward, pop-heavy mask to a rounded, operatic head voice.
- Vibrato: Her pop vibrato is fast and shallow; her Glinda vibrato is wide, controlled, and classical.
- The "Glinda Voice": You’ve probably noticed she speaks differently now too. Critics on TikTok love to poke fun at her higher-pitched speaking voice, but she’s been open about how hard it is to "turn off" after two years of filming.
She told Variety that some of these changes might actually be permanent. When you spend thousands of hours retraining your vocal cords to sit in a certain position, they don't just "melt away" the second the director yells cut.
The Style Shift: Goodbye Cat Eye, Hello "Cloud" Skin
If you look at photos of Ariana from the Positions era versus the Wicked premieres, the "face" of her brand is unrecognizable. The "Ariana Grande before and after Wicked" look is defined by what she took away.
She stopped wearing the heavy winged eyeliner. You know the one—the sharp, jet-black flick that defined an entire generation of makeup tutorials. Instead, she’s moved into what her makeup artist Michael Anthony calls a "soft, ethereal" look. It’s very 1950s Audrey Hepburn meets Glinda the Good.
She also famously started covering her tattoos for the role. While she isn't lasering them off, seeing her "clean" skin in the movie and on certain red carpets has completely changed her silhouette. It makes her look younger, sure, but also a bit more fragile.
The Personal Toll and the Ethan Slater Drama
We can't talk about the "after" without talking about the mess. Filming Wicked in London was a pressure cooker. Ariana was going through a divorce from Dalton Gomez while simultaneously filming one of the biggest movies of the decade.
Then came Ethan Slater.
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The timeline is... messy. What we know for a fact is that both were married when they started filming, and both were "separated" by the time the news broke in July 2023. The public's reaction was harsh. People felt like the "Good Witch" was playing a "Home Wrecker" role in real life.
Director Jon M. Chu told The New York Times that he watched her be "upset in her real life" and then use that raw emotion for the camera. The Ariana we see in the "after" is someone who has lived through a tabloid cycle that would have broken most people. She’s more guarded now. She’s less of the "I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it" girl and more of the "Please leave me alone in my bubble" woman.
Real Health Concerns vs. "Glindacore"
There has been a lot of loud, sometimes mean, conversation about her weight. If you compare Ariana Grande before and after Wicked, she is visibly much thinner.
Fans have staged interventions in the comments sections, while others defend her, citing her change in diet or the sheer physical exhaustion of a Broadway-style film shoot. She actually addressed this on TikTok, reminding people that the body they were comparing her current self to was actually her "unhealthiest" version—the one where she was on antidepressants and drinking heavily.
It’s a reminder that what looks "healthy" to the public is often a mask for internal struggle.
What You Should Watch For Next
If you want to track this evolution yourself, don't just look at the red carpet photos. Listen to the Eternal Sunshine album. It’s the perfect bridge between the two eras.
- Check the "Yes, And?" vocals: You can hear the crispness in her enunciation that wasn't there in 2018.
- Look at the R.E.M. Beauty shift: Notice how the products shifted from "space age" to "floral and soft" once the Wicked collab hit.
- Watch the Wicked: For Good (Part 2) trailers: You'll see her voice get even more "mature" as the story gets darker.
The reality is that Ariana Grande didn't just do a movie; she went through a total ego death. The "Ariana Grande before and after Wicked" story isn't finished yet, but it’s clear the pop star we knew is gone. In her place is a theater actress who just happens to have 380 million followers.
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To really see the difference, go back and watch her 2018 Sweetener sessions and then watch the 2024 Wicked behind-the-scenes clips. The change in her breath control alone is a masterclass in professional evolution. Focus on how she holds the "A" note in "No One Mourns the Wicked"—that's a decade of growth in one single breath.