A Wicked Deleted Scene Reveals The Truth About Glinda's Relationships

In "Wicked: Part One" — which came out in November of 2024, crushed the box office, and ultimately earned multiple Academy Award nominations — Galinda Upland, played by Oscar nominee Ariana Grande-Butera, arrives at Shiz University and is immediately, well, "popular." She's also immediately flanked by two loyal cohorts, students Pfannee and ShenShen (played respectively by Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James), but how do they meet in the first place? In an extremely brief deleted scene from Jon M. Chu's blockbuster film, we see that, right as Galinda gets to Shiz, she reunites with Pfannee and ShenShen. Sort of.

Galinda, for her part, is approached by Pfannee and ShenShen with absolutely no idea who they are, though Pfannee immediately explains that they met at a different school (specifically, a "twirling academy"). After they all do a little twirling routine to jog Galinda's memory, Galinda hugs them both and asks how they are "truthfully." ("I've been through," Pfannee responds, which is also the title of the episode of "Las Culturistas," the podcast hosted by Yang and Matt Rogers, which features Grande-Butera as the guest.) The scene gives the tiniest bit of context to relationship we see Galinda, Pfannee, and ShenShen share — until Galinda unexpectedly befriends her ostracized, green-skinned roommate Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) — but who are these characters? Also, where have you seen these actors before, and what's in store for Pfannee and ShenShen in "Wicked: For Good?"

So who are Pfannee and ShenShen in the context of "Wicked?" In an interview with Attitude UK around the time of the film's release, Bowen Yang said that the film's director Jon M. Chu sat down with him and Bronwyn James to explain why they were there, basically. "He's a big believer in: there are no small parts," Yang shared. "He's like: 'they're not the sidekicks or the gay best friends – I think there's something deeper there.' I think we arrived at: 'These are like Glinda's publicists.'" (James continued, "They're like: 'You're going to be who and what we need you to be. So that we can mooch off of you.'") Ultimately, the two encourage Galinda's worst tendencies at school. As Yang put it, "They're motivating all these nefarious things Glinda ends up doing in the film, even though she is good."

As far as the performers behind Pfannee and ShenShen, you've definitely seen Yang in clips — or potentially full sketches — as a performer on "Saturday Night Live," where he's been making us all laugh since 2019 (when he made his on-air debut after serving as a writer). As mentioned, Yang also hosts the brilliantly funny "Las Culturistas" with Matt Rogers and has appeared in movies like "The Lost City," "Fire Island" (where he turns in a genuinely stunning, emotionally resonant performance), and "Bros" as well as TV shows like "Girls5Eva" and "Fantasmas." James is best known for her role in the British period drama "Harlots," which ran from 2017 to 2019, as well as the Netflix drama "The Dig" and shows like "This Is Going to Hurt" and "Masters of Air."

As of this writing, Bronwyn James and Bowen Yang are very likely slated to appear in the second half of the story, "Wicked: For Good" (which recently underwent a title change), set to release in November 2025. Yang participated in a video interview with Collider at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025 and discussed what might be next for his character Pfannee in "Wicked: For Good," confirming that he appears: "I am in 'Wicked [For Good] in a ... fun capacity. I think my character gets his just desserts." James has not publicly commented, but it stands to reason that if Pfannee is there, ShenShen is as well.

Based on Yang's comments, it seems like these two schoolyard bullies might get their comeuppance; they do encourage Galinda — who ultimately changes and shortens her name to Glinda — to be mean to Elphaba before they even speak to the green-skinned young witch, and as Yang and James pointed out in their interview, they bring out the future Good Witch's bad side.