Photo:Jenny Anderson/Getty
Jenny Anderson/Getty
Ethan Slater, who is now reportedly datingAriana Grande, delivered an award-winning performance as SpongeBob SquarePants on stage, long before working with the “Positions” singer, 30, on theWickedmovie.
Slater, 31, starred as the Nickelodeon cartoon character in the2017 hit Broadway musicalSpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musicaland earned aTony Awardnomination for his performance. The actor made the childhood-favorite character his own as he moved around the Bikini Bottom stage in a yellow button-up shirt, red tie and plaid suspenders.
Slater also showed off his dancing skills on the stage, sashaying across as he sang “Best Day Ever” and clapped along with the crowd. He proved he knows how to captivate an audience and earned a Drama Desk Award for his performance.
Now, Slater is moving to the big screen as he starring alongside Grande in the film adaptation ofWicked.He was castin December 2022, around the time filming began in the U.K. and almost a year after Grande’s casting was announced.
The “Thank You, Next” artist is playing Glinda opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. Slater plays Boq, whose character has a crush on Glinda but eventually becomes the romantic interest of Elphaba’s younger sister Nessarose.
Art Streiber/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Eugene Gologursky/Getty
The stage musical is being split into two parts for its on-screen adaptation. The first,Wicked: Part One, is scheduled for release on Nov. 24, 2024.
“We were only a few days away from being done so we were SO close,“theCrazy Rich Asiansdirector tweeted on July 19. “It’s been very painful to put a halt to it all, but we will be back! And we will finish properly strong when the time is right.”
Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
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Last week,sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Grande and Slater were datingafter hersplit from husbandDalton Gomez. “Ariana and Daltonseparated in January,” one source said. “She and Ethan recently began dating.”
“Dalton is very religious and was committed to making it work, but Ariana had moved on,” a sourcetold PEOPLE Friday.
Although Gomez and Grande’s long-distance relationship “didn’t work,” a source told PEOPLE, “Ari has nothing but kind words to say about Dalton. During their marriage, he was her No. 1 fan.”
Reps for Grande, Gomez and Slater have not returned multiple requests for comment.
source: people.com
