Go ahead, make a wish!

“I was about 9 years old. I got this job in a Pepsi commercial tied to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video. The idea was that she was in this Pepsi studio, but she was thinking back to when she was a kid. I was in a birthday party scene. They had me wear this horrible tomboy outfit, while all the other kids got to wear dresses. I remember Madonna came in to see all the kids. I was really shy, but she singled me out and held my face and said, “Doesn’t she look like somebody?” It was super cool.”

“That was the only contact we had with her. When the video came out and it was so controversial they canceled the commercial. I think it ran, like, once.”

Actress Mandy Gonzales, who currently plays Elphaba in “Wicked” at the Gershwin Theater in NYC, speaking to the New York Times‘ Erik Piepenburg about how you never forget that star-struck encounter with your Idol.