Ethan Slater, who is now reportedly dating Ariana Grande, delivered an award-winning performance as SpongeBob SquarePants on stage, long before working with the “Positions” singer, 30, on the Wicked movie.
Slater, 31, starred as the Nickelodeon cartoon character in the 2017 hit Broadway musical SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical and earned a Tony Award nomination 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 of Wicked. He was cast in 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.
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.
However, filming was paused due to the Screen Actors Guild strike earlier this month. Director Jon M. Chu said this week that he doesn’t anticipate the movie’s release to be affected by the strike.
“We were only a few days away from being done so we were SO close,” the Crazy Rich Asians director 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.”
Last week, sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Grande and Slater were dating after her split from husband Dalton Gomez. “Ariana and Dalton separated 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 source told 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.”
Slater is also “separated” from his wife, Lilly Jay, an insider told PEOPLE. The actor and Jay met in high school began dating in 2012 and married in November 2018. They share a baby son, whom they welcomed in August 2022. Slater made his Instagram account private on Thursday.
Reps for Grande, Gomez and Slater have not returned multiple requests for comment.
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