For over a decade now, Ariana Grande has been known as one of the biggest and best voices in contemporary pop music. From “Dangerous Woman” and “Bang Bang” to “Yes, And?” and “7 Rings,” the two-time Grammy-winning Boca Raton-bred vocalist has dominated radio and streaming playlists alike with her trademark riffs and genre-blending catalog.

Before she set up a residency in the uppermost regions of the Billboard Hot 100, however, Grande’s primary career was in acting. After all, the most devoted Ariana Grande stans first encountered the star through grainy YouTube clips of her Broadway debut (2008’s 13) or re-runs of Nickelodeon classics Victorious and Sam & Cat. After spending a few years cementing herself as one of the most dominant forces in mainstream music, Grande set her sights on a grand return to acting.

Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch in director Jon M. Chu’s two-part cinematic adaptation of Wicked, the fourth-longest-running Broadway show of all time, which, in turn, pulls inspiration from the bestselling novel of the same title by Gregory Maguire. Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo plays opposite Grande as Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Other notable cast members include Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony Award nominee Ethan Slater as Boq, Emmy Award nominee Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz.

For its transition to the silver screen, Wicked is split into two separate movie musicals. Wicked: Part I hit theaters on Nov. 22 and quickly made history, earning the highest-grossing opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation ever. (The second film follows almost exactly a year later on Nov. 26, 2025.) It marks a new win in an already big 2024 for Grande. Her Eternal Sunshine album topped the Billboard 200, and it produced two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s: “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”

As theater audiences take a stroll down the Yellow Brick Road, let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive the best of Ariana Grande’s acting roles throughout her career so far.