Charlie Puth Debunks Wicked Audition Rumors with Humorous Self-Deprecation
Pop sensation Charlie Puth is setting the record straight regarding circulating rumors that he auditioned for the highly anticipated and record-breaking Wicked cinematic adaptations.
“I never auditioned for Wicked I would be so bad lol,” Puth, 33, posted on X on Saturday, November 29, in response to a fan who had shared a list of celebrities and performers supposedly considered for roles in the 2024 film and its 2025 sequel.
Other notable names on the circulated list included Jennifer Lopez, Shawn Mendes, Renée Rapp, Katy Perry, Harry Styles, Amanda Seyfried, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Dove Cameron, Lea Michele, and Jessie J.
While Puth might not have genuinely pursued a role in the films, several other individuals mentioned on the list have publicly confirmed their participation in auditions for various parts in both Wicked and Wicked: For Good, which feature Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, respectively.
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“Last summer while I was playing Elizabeth [The Dropout], on the weekends I was auditioning in person to play Glinda in the movie version of Wicked — because I wanted it that much that I was like, ‘You know what? Yeah, I have to play the last scene of The Dropout on Tuesday. I’ll give my Sunday to you,” Seyfried revealed to Backstage in July 2022.
Lady Gaga was reportedly in talks for the role of Elphaba before Stephen Daldry exited the project and Jon M. Chu took over as director, as reported by OK! Magazine.
How I Met Your Mother actress Cristin Milioti also verified that she tried out for the character of Elphaba.
“Wicked is one of my favorite musicals. They called me and asked if I wanted to audition for Elphaba, the green witch. I was like yes of course,” she recounted on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2024.
“I had two weeks and this was my first in person audition since Covid. A little rusty. Not great for singing, not great for high notes. And the big day comes, they’re so nice. We start singing through the songs, I’m doing it,” she continued. “And then they were like, are you ready for the big boy? They start the music and this calmness washes over me. I think I’m gonna hit this crazy note that I’ve been obsessing over. I open my mouth and the sound that escaped me is something I will hear on my deathbed. It was disgusting. I sounded terrible.”
Even though he won't be seen in the Wicked movies, Puth has certainly maintained a busy schedule. In October, he publicly defended Taylor Swift after accusations surfaced claiming she had plagiarized melodies from several tracks on her latest album, The Life of Showgirl.
“Lately there has been a lot of discussion about when two songs have similar melodies,” Puth elaborated on his TikTok Series “Professor Puth,” which boasts 22.4 million followers. “There’s only 12 notes in a scale … so when you’re writing a new song, there are bound to be similarities to an older song.”
He further added: “If I can just take a moment and say this: Sometimes artists will accidentally interpolate each other. It’s almost never done maliciously. We have to really stop demonizing this when it happens.”
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As he explained, interpolation occurs due to the “four-note threshold,” meaning a new composition can only incorporate the same four notes from a pre-existing track.
Puth concluded, “Interpolations and sampling, this stuff has been going on for a really long time, and some great music has come about because of it.”
