Cynthia Erivo just shared her thoughts on the sentimental finish of Wicked: For Good.
During a wide-ranging conversation at the Elphaba’s Wicked Retreat Airbnb Originals Experience event the actress reflected on the conclusion to her character Elphaba's story in the sequel to 2024's Wicked.
The second film ends with Elphaba staging her own melting death by hiding under a trap door.
She and her lover, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) — who left her best friend, Glinda (Ariana Grande), at their wedding and has been turned into straw thanks to an earlier protective spell — are then seen walking into the sunset away from Oz.
Before leaving, Elphaba gives her Grimmerie spell book to a newly empowered Glinda, and the two reconcile, singing one last reprise of “For Good."
Touching on the intimate moment between the two characters, Cynthia said, "Two things are happening in that line. It's both trying to help Glinda see what's actually happening, but it's also a comfort."
"I think she sees that her friend sees her one way," she explained, adding, "And I love between the lines when you can say something in a phrase, but so much more is going on."
Erivo continued: "Look at me, look at me. Not with your eyes. Because she knows that Glinda will see something very different to what other people see. And she has to remind her that that's what you see is not what everyone else sees. And you have to be okay with that as well because that's the only way we can move forward."
The actress said she loves the line "because it's something that Elphaba has to record, too."
"I think it's the first time that she settles into what has to come next," Cynthia Erivo concluded.
