How Elizabeth Gillies Supported Her Longtime Friend Ariana Grande Ahead Of Wicked

Ariana Grande and Elizabeth "Liz" Gillies are certified besties, considering how long they have been in each other's lives. The pair are most notable for their time on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" — Grande as Cat Valentine and Gillies as Jade West — but they first met when they were both cast in the original production of Broadway's "13: The Musical,"  playing Charlotte and Lucy, respectively. Their decades-long friendship has been the quintessential version of BFFs since 2008. 

Knowing each other as children has allowed the pair to watch each other grow into adults, with new opportunities adding to their already impressive repertoire. In 2024, Grande starred as Glinda in the film version of "Wicked," which Gillies knew was Grande's dream since their Broadway start — Grande even tweeted about it years ago. "When I met her at 13 or 14 years old, 'Wicked' was her show, and Glinda was her girl," the "Dynasty" actor said in a People interview. "We would sing the songs together, and she would tell me about her dream of playing this role." Later in the interview, Gillies added: "She is just extraordinary, and I'm so proud of her. There's truly, at this point, absolutely nothing she cannot do. She's proven that." 

Gillies also told the outlet how she and Grande still spend time together often, cementing that their friendship is forever.

We all need Elizabeth "Liz" Gillies in our life. The actor has publicly appeared by her best friend's side countless times throughout the years. In 2018, Gillies appeared in Ariana Grande's hit music video for her song "thank u, next," where Gillies rounded out Grande's recreation of The Plastics from the 2004 film "Mean Girls." When Grande appeared as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" in October 2024, Gillies was cheering her on backstage. Her Instagram gave us proof of their tight-knit friendship, when Gillies posted about the night, writing in the caption: "Congratulations on another incredible SNL, my Dingus. And Little Antonio — I have no words."

Their incredible humor over the years is just another perk for their fans, including a few amazing Halloween-costumes-turned-movie-productions for social media. In 2022, they played out the cast of "Best in Show," including Jane Lynch and Jennifer Coolidge's characters, as well as Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara's husband-wife duo. The year after, Gillies and Grande recreated a dinner scene between Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Berkley's characters in "Showgirls."

When the bombshell documentary series "Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" streamed on Max in 2024, Gillies revealed she and Grande used FaceTime to watch and discuss it. "We watched it together, and then we got together later that week or the next week, and we sort of broke the whole thing down and talked about it, and reprocessed everything together," Gillies told Variety. "There was a lot to go through." She continued, noting that her friendship with the now-grown-up cast of "Victorious," especially Grande, has brought support that other casts of Nick shows were not as fortunate to have.