NEW YORK –Ethan Slatersays his"Wicked"costarAriana Grandeis "doing well" after a manjumped a barricade and charged at herduring the movie's premiere in Singapore last week.
"One of the things that came out of what happened in Singapore was people seeing how much we as a cast take care of each other," Slater tells USA TODAY of the incident. "Cynthia (Erivo)andMichelle (Yeoh)really taking care of Ariana when that happened was a really beautiful thing."
Castmates huddled protectively around Grande when an Australian man, later identified as Johnson Wen, rushed toward the actress on the Nov. 13 red carpet. Wen pleaded guilty to being a public nuisance and was sentenced to nine days in jail,according to the BBC.
Slater, speaking with USA TODAY just after the New York premiere of "Wicked: For Good" (in theaters Nov. 21), says he wasn't privy to any changes in security as a result of the scary encounter, but noted that meeting fans is "really important to everyone" in the cast.
In traveling and fulfilling film obligations, Erivo lost her voice. Grande apologized for not stopping to talk as she escorted her "Defying Gravity" partner through the carpet at New York's Lincoln Center.
"Nobody has worked harder than those two women, let alone making the movie, but over the past few weeks and months and years, promoting it," Slater says of Erivo and Grande. "(Erivo) had to protect herself."
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Slater promoting "Wicked" in the Big Apple is notable for a few reasons. The actor, 33, grew up in Washington, D.C., but went to school at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, about an hour and a half north of Manhattan. It was there where he fell in love with theater.
One of Slater's first auditions in New York was for Boq Woodsman, the role he currently plays, in "Wicked" on Broadway. He didn't land the gig.
"I kept on calling it Munchkintown instead of Munchkinland, and I think they were like, 'Yeah, he is not quite ready,' " Slater recalls of the casting call. "When I got the movie role, I went back through my emails to find that initial breakdown because I couldn't quite remember all the details. And I found this email from a friend of mine, Charlie, and he said, 'Hey, man, how'd it go?' And my response was, 'I don't think I got it, but I'm hopeful that I made some fans in the room.'
"I'm trying to tap back into the optimism of 2013 Ethan, auditioning for Boq and not quite getting it."
Ethan Slater details the 'beautiful' thing Jon M. Chu did with 'Wicked: For Good'
"Wicked" and its sequel "Wicked: For Good" are derived from the first and second acts of the hit Broadway musical. Director Jon M. Chu was able to tell fuller stories by splitting the musical into two films, Slater says.
"The beautiful thing that Jon was able to do with this movie is to really deepen all of the characters and see what do they do in the face of the consequences of their actions and the decisions that they've made," Slater says. "Boq and Nessa (Marissa Bode) get to sort of develop their relationship a little bit more. ... What I'm really excited about mostly is sort of Boq's transformation."
Thank goodness: The wait for "Wicked: For Good" is nearly over. The press tour for the highly anticipated musical sequel is officially underway after kicking off with stars Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey stepping out on the red carpet in Brazil on Nov. 4. Ariana Grande missed the Brazil premiere due to flight issues but caught up with the group in London for the Nov. 10 red carpet. "Wicked: For Good" sees Erivo and Grande reprise their Oscar-nominated roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in an adaptation of the second half of the Broadway musical. New cast members for the follow-up include Colman Domingo as the voice of the Cowardly Lion.
As the cast brings the magic of Oz around the world, scroll through for the best photos from the "Wicked: For Good" red carpets so far, starting with Erivo and Grande at Cineworld London Leicester Square on Nov. 10, 2025, in London." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Ariana Grande attends the "Wicked: For Good" premiere at Universal Studio Singapore on Nov. 13, 2025, in Singapore. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Cynthia Erivo " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Michelle Yeoh " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jeff Goldblum " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
From left, Michelle Yeoh, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum and Jon M. Chu" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ariana Grande, left, and Cynthia Erivo " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ariana Grande attends the "Wicked: For Good" premiere at Cineworld London Leicester Square on Nov. 10, 2025, in London." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Cynthia Erivo " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ariana Grande " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
From left, Cynthia Erivo, Jon M. Chu and Ariana Grande " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ariana Grande " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Cynthia Erivo" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jonathan Bailey " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jeff Goldblum" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Michelle Yeoh " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Marissa Bode " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ethan Slater" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Frankie Grande" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Paul Tazewell " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Jennifer Lawrence, Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Aniston in the best celebrity photos from November
Thank goodness: The wait for "Wicked: For Good" is nearly over. The press tour for the highly anticipated musical sequel is officially underway after kicking off with stars Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey stepping out on the red carpet in Brazil on Nov. 4. Ariana Grande missed the Brazil premiere due to flight issues but caught up with the group in London for the Nov. 10 red carpet."Wicked: For Good" sees Erivo and Grande reprise their Oscar-nominated roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in an adaptation of the second half of the Broadway musical. New cast members for the follow-up include Colman Domingo as the voice of the Cowardly Lion.As the cast brings the magic of Oz around the world, scroll through for the best photos from the "Wicked: For Good" red carpets so far, starting with Erivo and Grande at Cineworld London Leicester Square on Nov. 10, 2025, in London.
Chu shot both "Wicked" films as one production, but the movies weren't filmed chronologically, to work with set locations and actor availability. That allowed Slater to think of Boq's role in the films as "one big thing" instead of two separate pieces.
"It's the story of somebody who is looking for love and community," Slater says of his character's arc, noting Boq thinks he's found love, but as it's taken away, he becomes isolated.
Boq is "left with Nessa, who he doesn't really recognize anymore, and he doesn't recognize himself anymore, " Slater adds. "What does he do with that? What do you turn that isolation and feeling of loneliness into? There's a productive way and then there's anger and hatred. So that was something that was the focus of the story for me."
Ethan Slater's next act takes him off-Broadway
Slater co-wrote and will star in theoff-Broadway play "Marcel on the Train."The show's limited run kicks off Feb. 5 and runs through mid-March. And while there's no more "Wicked" movies in the works (for now), the actor doesn't feel like this is a goodbye to Emerald City or Munchkinland.
"I don't think it's often that you get to work on something of this caliber with people of this caliber who are as passionate, if not more so," he says. "It's funny because we keep on talking about this being the end or closing a chapter. But it really feels like it's just beginning," as people "start to see it and be brought into this world that we've known has existed for so long."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Wicked' star Ethan Slater addresses Ariana Grande's carpet scare
