Why Is Ariana Grande a Supporting Nominee at Golden Globes for Her ‘Wicked’ Role?

As we heard over and over — and over! — during the press tour for “Wicked,” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were equally important to the movie. Twinsies. (Turn on the tears here.)

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the actresses who played the lead roles in “Wicked” on Broadway, were also positioned as equals. At the 2004 Tony Awards, they both received nominations for lead actress. Menzel won, but Chenoweth had no regrets about going head-to-head with her co-star, later saying that would have recoiled at “reducing Glinda from a lead to a sidekick.”

So why did the Globes downgrade Grande, who plays Glinda in the film, to the supporting actress category? Shouldn’t she be perkily perched beside Erivo as a best actress nominee?

For a start, Globe voters — unlike their Oscar equivalents — do not have a choice in the matter: Who gets considered for what is dictated by paperwork that studios submit during the nomination process. Universal Pictures submitted Grande in supporting and Erivo in lead.

Universal declined to comment, as did a representative for Grande and Erivo. In these cases, however, the choice is almost always made by the star. If Grande had wanted to run as lead, she would.

“Wicked” the movie is only based on the first half of “Wicked” the play, and Erivo’s Elphaba has a much larger emotional journey in the beginning portion. Grande and Erivo may also not have wanted to be pitted against each other. Splitting into two categories at the Globes gives the actresses a better shot of landing nominations at the coming Academy Awards. (Erivo was previously nominated for a best actress Oscar in 2019 for “Harriet.”)

It has been 33 years since two actors (male or female) from the same film were nominated as leads at the Oscars. In that instance, the nods went to Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon for “Thelma & Louise.”

Both lost.