Ethan Slater reflects on his magical use of time Bad.

The actor, 32, who plays Boq in the musical film, shared a carousel of behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram on Friday, November 22, to celebrate Bad officially opened in theaters.

Slater’s post included snaps of himself with the crew and many of his fellow costars — including current 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 am honored to be a part of this film is the understatement of the century.”

“I can’t wait for you to see it,” he concluded.

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Slater – who started dating Grande, 31, after meeting on set Bad late 2022 – has praised his girlfriend’s performance as Glinda in their new film and shared that he is ‘really proud’ of her in a GQ interview published on October 30.

“She’s thrown herself into it,” the Broadway star said, adding that he’s “very excited to be there for this next step, when the world gets to see what an amazing thing she’s done.”

Slater and Grande have appeared together at promotional events Badand even shared an adorable moment at the Los Angeles premiere on Nov. 9, when she adjusted his bow tie on the red carpet.

The sweet moment took place as the pop star and Slater posed for photos at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion alongside Erivo, 37, plus Jeff Goldblum and others Bad castmates, as well as the stars of the show’s original Broadway production, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

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Slater recently told PEOPLE that he auditioned for his role as Boq by performing as the character in his audition tape, while also performing as Glinda and Nessarose.

“I did two scenes and sang Boq’s songs, ‘The Ozdust Ballroom’ and ‘March of the Witch Hunters,’ the second movie,” he said in an interview for PEOPLE’s new special. Bad edition.

“But”, the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical alum continued, “I have to say, I didn’t have anyone to read with at the time, so on the tape I sent, I play Glinda and Nessa off camera, and then I read with a video of myself.”

Playing three characters at once on his audition tape was “bold,” Slater admitted, “I can’t believe I got away with it.” But I knew I wanted to take my time… and I couldn’t find anyone. to spend that time with me, so I just did it with myself.