Frankie Grande Recalls His and Sister Ariana Grande's Tearful Reaction to Her Wicked Casting

The Grandes are all about sibling revelry. 

Ariana Grande is set to take to the western sky when she stars as Glinda the Good Witch in the highly anticipated musical movie Wicked, which will fly into theaters in November 2024. And no one is more proud of the "God Is a Woman" singer's upcoming role in the project than her older brother Frankie Grande. 

 "She worked very, very, very, very, very hard on the audition process and she would let me in afterwards and tell me how each one of them went," Frankie told E! News' Francesca Amiker while promoting his new horror movie, Summoning Sylvia. "I remember when she told me that she booked it, we just both burst into tears together. Because it was something that she had been dreaming of her entire life."

Celebrating their wins isn't the only thing the Broadway-loving brother-sister duo do together as Frankie revealed the pair actually help each other out with auditions by giving each other feedback, which is "really cute."

While Frankie admittedly hates taping himself for auditions, preferring to "razzle and dazzle" casting producers in person, the 40-year-old shared the advice Ariana gave him that changed everything: "Just make strong choices."

"It really helped me," Frankie explained. "I was obsessed with figuring out what the director wanted. I learned that if you just make a very strong choice, it doesn't have to be the right choice."

Though, the decision to join the cast of the upcoming LGBTQ horror-comedy Summoning Sylvia was definitely an easy one for Frankie, who said he's wanted to star in a genre film since watching classic scary movies such as Pet Sematary and Child's Play with his mother when he was growing up. While he joked that the experiences left him "completely traumatized," they also gave him "a love and passion" for all things horror.

The film follows a group of friends who take their soon-to-be-married pal to an old haunted house for his bachelor party, only to inadvertently summon spirits. Frankie plays the witchy Nico, a role that was written specifically for him by directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse.

"I am very drawn to playing you know darker characters because I am so like, 'Shine bright like a Frankie!' That's who I am as a personality," he explained. "So, as an actor, I like to do the complete opposite and Nico is definitely on the shadier side."

Like in Surviving Sylvia, Frankie had a very "not traditional" celebration for his May 2022 wedding to actor Hale Leon. Rather than celebrate with pals ahead of time, they all went to Disney World after the big day. Though that's not to say every stag night the Big Brother alum has attended has been quite so wholesome.

"I have been to an all-male straight one and I cannot speak about what happened at that one," Frankie teased. "I am under sworn secrecy to never ever mention what happened at that bachelor party."

While mum's the word about that event, Frankie was more than happy to talk about married life ahead of first wedding anniversary.

"There's something about the stability of actually saying 'I do' and having the ring around your finger where you don't have to kind of play life on fast forward the way that we were when we were dating," Frankie shared. "The pace of everything has gotten to a really beautiful, stable place, which has been so nice. It has allowed me to go do all these great wonderful things in my career without being concerned about my relationship."

As for what's ahead professionally, Frankie is eyeing a return to the stage after starring in Broadway productions of Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages, and most recently, the off-Broadway musical spoof Titanique the Musical.

"There's many roles in the world that I want to play," Frankie said, pointing to Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors as his "dream" part. "That's where I started. So, of course, I will be returning to the Broadway stage."

Summoning Sylvia is in theaters March 31 and hits VOD and streaming on April 7.

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