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?"