Ariana Grande uses her real name in the Wicked credits

She's thinking of her younger self

The promotion and marketing around the film, based off the Stephen Schwartz stage musical and book by Gregory Maguire, has added to the excitement and anticipation of the movie which has been in the works for several years.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have made appearances at several press events and screenings but people are beginning to notice a detail in the credits which has raised questions.

Ariana Grande has used her real names as opposed to the famous name she has been using since her Nickelodeon days – Ariana Grande-Butera.

Grande is her mother’s maiden name while Butera is her father’s last name.

The 31-year-old pop star explained the significance of using her full name for the film during her appearance on ‘The Streaming Service with Justin Hill’ podcast alongside her co-star.

She said: “Technically, it’s my little girl name. It’s technically little (Ari’s) name.

“I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba.

“You know, that was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old. It felt like a really lovely way of honouring that.”

Grande has regularly spoken about her love for the Broadway show, long before she was cast to play Glinda.

The host, Hill, said using her full name was like a ‘love note’ to her younger self who was in awe of the show.

Grande agreed, adding: “It felt really full circle. It just felt like something I wanted to do. I just know that playing this role, it healed so many parts of Ari.”

It is by far the biggest role Grande has played in her career so far and she has been praised for her emotional attachment to the character and the project.

Grande went on to say that she’d hold onto the feelings and relationships she’d built with the cast and crew during the creation of this film.

Erivo who plays Elphaba in the film echoed those sentiments saying that the friendship she built with Grande was at ‘the centre’ of every scene.