Ethan Slater is reflecting on his magical time making Wicked.
The actor, 32, who plays Boq in the musical film, shared a carousel of behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram Friday, Nov. 22, to celebrate Wicked officially opening in theaters.
Slater’s post included snapshots of himself with the crew and many of his fellow costars — including now-girlfriend Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Bronwyn James and Marissa Bode — plus a black-and-white photo of director Jon M. Chu in action.
“Wicked is out now, in theaters, and you can go see it, and that’s crazy,” Slater wrote. “To say I’m honored to be a part of this movie is the understatement of the century.”
“I cannot wait for you to see it,” he concluded.
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Slater — who began dating Grande, 31, after meeting on the set of Wicked in late 2022 — has praised his girlfriend’s performance as Glinda in their new film, sharing that he is “really proud” of her in a GQ interview published Oct. 30.
“She’s poured herself into it,” the Broadway star said, adding that he is “really excited to be there for this next step of it when the world gets to see the amazing thing that she did.”
Slater and Grande have appeared together at events promoting Wicked, and even shared a cute moment at the Los Angeles premiere on Nov. 9, when she adjusted his bow tie on the red carpet.
The sweet moment occurred as the pop star and Slater posed for photos at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion alongside Erivo, 37, plus Jeff Goldblum and other Wicked castmates, as well as the stars of the show’s original Broadway production, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.
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Ethan Slater/Instagram
Slater recently told PEOPLE he auditioned for his role as Boq by performing as the character in his audition tape while also standing in as Glinda and Nessarose.
“I did two scenes and sang Boq’s songs, ‘The Ozdust Ballroom’ and ‘March of the Witch Hunters,’ which is the second movie,” he said, in an interview for PEOPLE’s new special Wicked edition.
“But,” the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical alum continued, “I should say that I didn’t have anyone to read with at the time, so the tape I sent in is me playing Glinda and Nessa off camera, and then me reading with a video of myself.”
Playing three characters at once in his audition tape was “bold,” Slater allowed, “I can’t believe I got away with it. But I knew I wanted to take my time with it … and I couldn’t get somebody to spend that time with me, so I just did it with myself.”
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