Cynthia Erivo’s had much more to offer Bad makeup than just green paint.

In an interview with Elle published on Thursday, November 14, the 37-year-old singer and actress shared the behind-the-scenes details of her preparation process on the set of the highly anticipated film. In addition to copious amounts of green makeup to transform into her character Elphaba, Erivo also donned prosthetic ears for the role.

“I have a million piercings, so they brought in a prosthetic artist who basically made a shell for my ears,” she told the outlet. “Those aren’t my ears!”

The Broadway star also shared that the shade of green makeup used in the film was custom made for her.

“It was literally ‘Cynthia Green,’” Erivo said. “Depending on how much green we were doing – head, chest, hands, whole body – it could take up to four hours.”

“Everything was special, right down to my eyebrows,” she further explained of the painstaking makeup process. “(My makeup artist) created a vacuum mold so the freckles stay in the same place every day.”

Erivo also pulled back the curtain on the physical demands of the musical role.

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“I was up at 6 a.m. for my treadmill workout,” she recalls. “I was running and singing on the treadmill. I always made sure my body was ready. I had to get my body used to being on wires (for the flight scenes). I got a kick out of it. I enjoyed it the power of being able to climb on a wire and be turned upside down. It won’t go well the first time – maybe the second or third – and that’s okay.

During the Bad press tour, Erivo and her costar Ariana Grande rely entirely on method dressing according to their characters. Grande, who plays Glinda, has embraced all things pink and iridescent, in keeping with Glinda’s signature feminine style.

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Erivo has also attracted quite a few witchy ensembles. At the premiere in Mexico City on November 11, the star turned heads in a long-sleeved Thom Browne column dress with theatrical hands on the shoulders. The hooded top also has a button closure at the front for even more drama.