Ariana Grande - 'Wicked: For Good' [LIVE]

25:50Ariana Grande:Ooh, what do I look for in a creative collaborator? Hmm. I love people who make space for everyone's ideas. You know, I love people who are super collaborative and open and just sort of receptive and can give space. I'm kind of a, I like to be alone these days when I'm creating. So sometimes I'll go in my own room and with my own setup and my own headphones in my own Pro Tools session and just kind of do my own thing for a little while. And then I'll kind of visit the other room and see what they're working on. And then they'll come in my room and visit and see what I'm working on. Yeah, I love people who are, I'm so lucky.

26:30Ariana Grande:I mean, Max is so brilliant. He's the best at what he does in the world. But he's also so such an amazing human. He's so go with the flow. He has no ego at all. I think that's really important to in a collaborator is to leave, to not have ego be a part of it. Everyone has to be daring to suck, daring to have the bad idea, daring to pitch the joke that no one giggles at. And then, you know, everyone has to kind of be free and unafraid. That's what I think. Kindness, collaboration, space when needed, and understanding that everyone has a different process. Sometimes you have to learn other people's processes in order to collaborate with them well.

27:09Ariana Grande:And sometimes that takes time and I love that. I've been very lucky. I love my collaborators. Sorry. Oh my God. I don't know. Great answer. Stop talking. I'm like, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. All good. 2016. Definitely take a sip because we got, I got another wind up here for you before. Studio album number three, Dangerous Woman.

27:30This album includes Into You and Side to Side, but you've called Dangerous Woman, the title track one of your favorite songs you've ever done and yet this is another one where you've said you had to fight for it to be the lead single first of all who's telling you who's telling you

27:47Ariana Grande:anything and secondly what why i feel like there's always a little bit of a disconnect between what the artist wants and what the label wants it's just kind of naturally what happens like the artist's favorite song is nine times out of 10, not the one that the label's favorite song. They always want the ones that sound like they'll be the most commercially, they'll make TikToks to this or whatever. And you're like, is this where we are right now? But yeah, and then the artist is always like, oh, but my soul is in this one. And it's, you know, anyway, Dangerous Woman. Yeah, I, well, so I didn't write on that song.

28:25That song was written by Johan and Max Martin. And they, I was

28:28Ariana Grande:just, I happened to just hear it. And it's not often that I will feel that way about a song that I didn't write or that I wasn't a part of creating, but I heard it and I was like, oh my god, I feel destined to sing this song. I said, please give me a chance. Like, I know that this is being sort of like, this is waiting in some sort of, I don't know what, who it was supposed to be for, but I was like, please give me a chance. Let me try singing it. And I sang it and they were like, okay good move good move by them uh let's go to jake fly with his question jake hello hi hi hi how are you i'm good how are you i'm good thank you

29:17my question is what is your process for determining what you want to say on an album Do you come up with an album concept first and then write songs to fit the concept? How do you make sure the songs work together on one album?

29:32Ariana Grande:Well, sometimes I will have an idea of like, oh, I want to use more 60s influences for this album or something like sonically. Like with Eternal Sunshine, I was listening to a lot of the Beatles. I was listening to a lot of Rubber Soul. so like little tiny musical tie-ins that you would never pick up on when you listen to the album are kind of woven throughout but as far as like context and what I'm saying I word vomit I don't know sometimes I'll I'll write down little like puns or like witty little things that'll happen but they'll just go in my notes app and they'll go far away for like years and I'll never but it's usually just a stream of consciousness like word vomit thing when I'm doing like melody passes that what I need to say will come out of me and I yeah I don't know it's not a very organized process in that way I'm very free when I'm writing and if something is coming out in that way I will stick to it but if it's not I'll bounce around to either like a different beat or like a different folder and I'll I'll bounce back and forth because I try not to push if it's not just coming out so So yeah, that's kind of my process.

30:45Ariana Grande:And then it comes together when it comes together. Like when I wrote Eternal Sunshine, I said, oh, well, that's the centerpiece of the album and that has to be the title. And all of the songs coincidentally mention like rewriting things, erasing you, all of the things that are coincidentally what that film is about. Yeah, so it's a mixture of just kind of like freedom and also just cosmic alignment, I guess. that was 2016 Dangerous Woman the album also 2016 was your return to acting I think for the first time since Broadway no no no and actually no sorry since Nick first time back acting after all the music has been taking off this was for Hairspray Live oh yeah and I think you've said you know it's not like it was the largest part or the or whatever, but there was something in you that wanted to kind of keep a foot in acting, keep a toe in acting, and that leads us into a question from Kendall Green.

31:50Hello. I keep asking them to speak before you. No, no, no, no. Hi. Hello. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. My question is, you obviously had to move back and forth between acting and music. Do you find that coming off of one impacts the way you go on to another? and is there something in that that influences your approach?

32:12Ariana Grande:Definitely. I think that especially with most recently making Eternal Sunshine after playing Glinda, I was so grateful for the space because I think I really needed it. You know, I had a long chunk of time. It was kind of almost a decade where pop music was the only thing and I think my soul was aching for the acting piece, the the if I just missed it so much and I think the break really fed me and informed me in a huge way spending time with Glinda was such an amazing gift I feel like I learned a lot about my own craft and also I feel like it reconnected me to creating like it healed something that got disconnected along the way I think because it kind of the way that pop took over was something I wasn't ready for and so the space was really healthy and I think that it informed my relationship to being a performer in general and I felt like they have to feed each other I think the balance is important yeah space is important experiencing different life things is important yeah learning from new environments thank you sorry sorry you're the you're in charge 2018 fourth studio album, Sweetener, 2019.

33:33Fifth studio album. Thank you, next. Sweetener comes out with the lead single, No Tears Left to Cry, and ends up winning. Guys, we're going to be here all night if we do that for every one of them. I'm sorry I'm so long-winded, by the way. I have no short answers for anything. You're giving great answers. Sorry. No, thank you. Sweetener comes out with the lead single, No Tears Left to Cry, and ends up winning the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, your first Grammy. Then, just a few months after its release, you dropped the first single from your next album, Thank You, Next, the title song, which became your first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 and has since been chosen by Billboard as one of the 100 songs that defined the 2010s and by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time, number 137 specifically.

34:17Oh, that's so nice. I think you've said that the entire Thank You, Next album was written in like a week. at that time, obviously, if that's confirmed, music was just pouring out of you. You make music that helps a lot of other people through tough times, right? But I wonder if making music sometimes has that same effect for you, especially at that time in your life.

34:43Ariana Grande:Definitely. We're so lucky to have art to jump into when we need something bigger than what we You know, yeah, that was a very challenging time in my life. My dear friends who also happen to be such brilliant songwriters and producers, Victoria Monet, Taylor Parks and Tommy Brown, they all came to New York to be with me as friends to support me. And it wasn't really pressure. Like it wasn't like we have to make an album right now. but that was just the thing that we all ended up doing. We definitely held the studio space and we didn't leave. We did not leave. It was a life-saving experience. It really was.

35:35Ariana Grande:And we're so lucky to have art to be able to do that for us when words don't suffice, when the feelings are unimaginable and then to put them out into the world and realize, oh my God, other people feel this way too sometimes. is unexplainably healing. With a related question, we are going to Kaya Hohensi. Hi. Hi. Hello, Professor Grande. Oh, hello. Hello. Hi, Kaya. Hi. What are some of your hobbies that allow you to disconnect from show business? How do you let loose and reconnect? Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Well, how do I disconnect and recharge? I love a good bath. I love my meditations.

36:22Ariana Grande:I use the Insight Timer app. Highly recommended. We were just talking about it in the hallway before we came in here. I love being with my dogs, with my loved ones. I love a good game to play with friends. My team and I, in the car ride over, we were just playing Flip 7. Very fun. Right? Okay, yeah. Yeah, I mean, come on. Wow, it deserves that reaction. It's really fucking fun. yeah and we were kept we were flipping seven and we kept saying um flip it around wicked witch every card every time every card every card we flip we're like okay do you want to do it yeah flip it around wicked witch and we did it every time it was a big it's a big hit with me and my team right now it's very fun that's great yes okay so 2020 and 2021

37:24okay 2020 sorry no i'm so sorry we have like 400 more years to go you were you uh you were the queen of lockdown let's say because we had in that period sorry there had unfortunately there had to be a lockdown but fortunately you were there with stuck with you with justin beaver and rain on me with lady gaga and then not long after that two collaborations with the weekend uh we had um both that went to number one on the Hot 100, Save Your Tears, and Die For You. I guess the question is, how do you decide or, you know, can kind of decide with somebody else whether or not you want to collaborate on a song, another artist as opposed to a producer or whatever that we've talked about already?

38:18How do you and, like, you know, that's enough.

38:21Ariana Grande:Well, I guess it has to feel intentional and, like, it makes sense and, like, I have something to say. There are so many artists that I love and bless you. Are you okay? Who was it? Okay, was it a cough or a sneeze? Understood. All right, well then I take it back. I'm kidding. Yeah, I think it depends on the song. There are so many amazing artists that I would love to collaborate with, but it would have to make sense. And also if someone sends me something and I immediately know what I want to write or want to add to it, then I know it's the right thing and I know it should happen. But if I don't necessarily feel like I can offer myself in a way that adds value, then I tend to say maybe no thank you.

39:04Ariana Grande:It's tricky. Even if I love the artist, it has to make sense. I have to be able to add value. I don't know. Sure. Or like, yeah, with Abel, with The Weeknd, we have so many special songs together that just really made sense at the time. And there have been others that haven't, that we have abandoned because it wasn't right for the time. Again, back to the collaboration thing, all coming down to honesty and hearing each other's feelings. And I guess even on a different level, just where do you tend to meet other artists? Is it at award shows? Take these examples of Bieber, Gaga, and Abel. I don't know.

39:44How do you first break the ice with somebody like that? Or are they with you?

39:48Ariana Grande:I've met a lot of people just at the studio in passing. In New York, I work at Jungle City, and sometimes they'll be like, I accidentally, this is crazy, I can't believe I'm saying this, I walked into the wrong room at Jungle City one time, and I believe, I'm not going to say who it was, but they were napping. There was an artist who was napping, and I was like, holy shit, and I ran out because I didn't want to interrupt this person's nap, and they didn't notice, thank God. But yeah, that's usually how you meet people. It's just you're just around in the workspace, or at one of the events that everyone is at.

40:23Ariana Grande:That's usually how connections are made or teams will reach out to other people's teams and say, hey, does she want to listen to this or whatever? But yeah, I did walk in on someone napping in the studio and I panicked and walked out. That's great. We are going to go to Jenna Gomez. Hi, thank you so much for coming. Hi, thank you for having me. So my question is, across all of the many great songs that you've written, is there a lyric that you're especially proud of? I think a lot of my favorite writing is on Eternal Sunshine. I think, thank you very much. I don't know, it might be something from Hampstead, We Can't Be Friends or Imperfect For You, I think.

41:07Those have my heart. I'm kind of proud of those three. It's hard to pick because they all do different things and it depends on my mood. I think it depends on what I'm going through that day. Yeah, some days are Hampstead days. Some days are, yeah, imperfect few days. I don't know. We'll see. So Wicked was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, which is a big deal. But it was not the first Best Picture Oscar nominee that you were a part of. First there was Don't Look Up, which, 2021, in which, just to remind folks, your character tells Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Why don't you mind your own business, you old fuck?

41:48Fuck, yes. I believe in improvisation, right? Is that in the moment you came up with that? I don't remember. That's what I've heard. I actually don't remember. Is that on the internet? I heard that, I heard that, but who knows? I don't know. That was a really fun day, though. They were both so warm and welcoming. I was so nervous. I was like, God, I have one interaction in this movie,

42:07Ariana Grande:and it's with Jen and Leo. That's insane. Why am I here? Well, Jen, if people go back and watch that clip, is breaking up in the clip when you say that. So I think it was improv. But also, you, for that movie, wrote a song that was nominated for an Academy Award called Just Look Up with Kid Cudi, right? And Nick Brattel. Oh, and Nick Brattel, who's the best. And we just also had on the podcast as well. The Succession score, so many great things. Jay Kelly. Jay Kelly. Oh, yes, Jay Kelly. Has anyone seen Jay Kelly? It's phenomenal. Thank you to you. But with that song, by the way, it includes the lyrics.

42:47I mean, I'm not going to try to do this, but it's some hilarious lyrics, too. So people should check that out. Which leads me to our next student question from Oliver Pardo.

43:01Hello. Oh, my God. Hi. Hi, Oliver. I mean, you've clearly proven that you're such a funny comedic actress. In the Wicked movies, of course. Don't Look Up, which is hysterical. on every time you've hosted SNL. It's so funny. Thank you so much. Yeah, right? Like, really funny stuff. So I'm just wondering, where did you get your sense of humor, and are you looking to do anything in that kind of genre in the future? Yeah, trauma.

43:29Darkness. Yeah, thank you so much, Oliver. No, I'm kidding. I think I... My dad and I loved watching comedies together when I was little,

43:44Ariana Grande:and it was so bonding. It just felt like a connective language that he and I spoke. We loved all the same comedies, and it just made me feel really close to him. And, yeah, I think just being a student of the great Christopher Guest movies, of SNL, of, you know, Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller and, you know, Jim Carrey. Yeah, just I would study the greats. and Jennifer Coolidge. That was amazing. I was going to ask you.

44:20Hi, guys. My name is Megan. It's me again. It's nice to meet you, Megan. Oh, my God. It's so nice to meet you. Oh, my God. I feel like I'm looking in a mirror. Oh, my God. I can say the same. Megan, there's something happening here between us. I think we do. I think we do. Okay, so. I told you guys, it's going to be a long night. This is great. It's all good. So, okay. The novel that inspired Wicked was written 25 years ago, or now 26 years ago. Gregory Maguire. The Broadway show debuted 23 years ago. when did Wicked in one form or another first cross your radar and what did it mean to you

45:11Ariana Grande:well I first saw the Broadway show when I was 10 years old I was very lucky to have seen the original Broadway cast and yeah life-changing it's like you know life before you see Wicked and after those are the two chapters in life it changed my life and I remember feeling really connected to Glinda and obviously loving Elphaba's music and her songs and the whole score was really moving and inspiring to me but I just remember loving Glinda's arc and her comedy and feeling really connected to Kristen I got to meet her afterwards because they were doing a Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS auction and I kept yes Broadway Cares and I kept bidding and my mom was like, Ariana, you have to put your hand down.

46:02Ariana Grande:Stop. And I ended up very lucky again to have won the auction and gotten to meet her. And do you have a photo from that? I do not with me. No, no, no. That's all right. But no, I got to meet her and I got to meet Adina. Adina gave me a little green bracelet and Kristen gave me like a little sparkly body gel for the shower that like I dipped a pinky in every day when I was in the shower when I was little, and I think it actually had magic in it. I wanted to savor it. I didn't want to waste it. And she gave me a little wand, and her little dog peed on the couch, and I helped her clean it up. Yeah, that was the first time I experienced Wicked, and it was kind of a dream scenario.

46:47So you said you were 10 at that time?

46:49Ariana Grande:I was 10 at that time. How many years would it be before you then hear that there's going to be a movie version? And I know now in hindsight, it seems obvious, of course, you should be cast in it. But it was not something where they were just handing out the part, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I wouldn't have wanted it to have been that way. Because this is, I mean, it has to be earned, you know, it's wicked. And these parts are, they're so demanding of every single tool in our kits of every single part of us. So this is something that had to be earned. I was so desperate to even be seen for an audition.

47:27Ariana Grande:By the time I found out that they were making the movie, actually, they started talking about it when I was still on the Sweetener tour. And it was even earlier than that. And I heard murmurings of it. And I told my team then, like, I would love to know if anything's happening. When it's happening, please tell me because I will fly in for an audition. I will do anything. I'll throw myself into it. by the time they started seeing people, I begged for them to see me. And my first audition, I sang for both roles. I sang in my first audition, No One Warns the Wicked, Popular, Defying Gravity, and The Wizard and I.

48:03Ariana Grande:I did both songs twice. I mean, I was very obvious, though, when I came in, because I had like a pink thermos and a pink shirt and a pink thing, what I was campaigning for. and then I was called back for Glinda and then I did a chemistry read with two different actresses that kept me there for like three and a half hours for my final callback by the very end of it I had cried so much that my eyelashes were like this because we did for good in Defying Gravity like eight times you know in the workshop and I just left my eyelashes on the mirror I was like thank you guys bye and I just I was like I'll leave everything else here so why not leave those but yeah I was just grateful for the chance to be seen because I agreed with them I was like why would anyone trust me with this it doesn't make any sense for anyone to look at Ariana Grande and think that that would be the right thing it just didn't make any sense and I knew that that was how they must have felt so I really wanted to earn it I worked my ass off and and I felt really proud and I think that's the most important thing about auditioning if you do your best and if you leave everything in the room you have to you had you just have to know that you've done everything you can you have to do your homework you have to learn everything you can about your craft and then leave it in the room and whatever is meant to be is going to be you have to trust that you mentioned that some of the that you auditioned opposite a few people was one of them Cynthia Erivo no so Cynthia and I did not chemistry read together.

49:40Which is hard to believe. So you were both already cast the first time you sang together.

49:48Ariana Grande:Yes. And what was that moment like? It was very special. We sang together after we had been cast for the first time at our brilliant director, John Chu's house. He had a kind of like welcome to Wicked dinner. We sang around the piano with Stephen Schwartz accompanying us. It was very special. yeah it just felt very cosmically aligned and very meant to be the quote-unquote baggage which can be a positive or negative of being ariana grande wanting to play this role you're saying people might have assumed that might have worked against you if you hadn't clarified that you really did want this part for your whole life but the other thing is people might assume oh ariana Grande is a great pop singer, therefore she can easily step into singing the way that Glinda sings, when in fact...

50:40Ariana Grande:So different. Can you break that down for people? I think a lot of people get it, but there may be people that don't. It's just a very different style of singing. So I have a musical theater background. I sang. I trained when I was a young girl. I have training. I've sang classically in my life, but never like this. And there was a large period of my life where I was singing pop and using mostly my mix and my belty range or whistle notes. And whistle notes are not the same as operatic soprano, coloratura, that sort of warm classical sound. And the vibrato is completely different. And also the tone is completely different.

51:21Ariana Grande:I had to do a lot of extensive vocal training. I started three months before even my first audition because I wanted to make sure it sounded legitimate by the time I got there. It's so interesting because you can hear the quality of my tone change over the course of my voice notes that I have from my lessons with my vocal coach, Eric Vitro. Eric Vitro, wonderful man. But it's interesting because I was on a long flight recently and I went all the way back to like my very, very, very first voice lessons where I started to work on Glinda. and there's so much more air coming out and then slowly as like the weeks go on as you go in like the voice notes you track it you can track it becoming more full more warm more healthy honestly yeah your vocal cords are just like any other muscle in the body with training and patience and lots of care they figure out what you're trying to tell them to do and fun fact Stephen Schwartz, who we talked about, composer, lyricist, said, quote, in the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let's refresh the rhythm.

52:26Let's maybe, I don't know, hip hop it up a little bit for you. Yeah, no. And you shot that the hell down. I did. I did. Can you imagine? Holy shit.

52:39Ariana Grande:You just, I respect so deeply the impulse to want to, you know, freshen it up or make it feel different or whatever. But how do I say this? Glinda claps on one and three. So that kind of thing does not work. That would not feel honest for the character. It would be funny to hear it once. Oh, I heard it once. You have? Yeah, it wasn't fun. It wasn't funny. But no, I actually, our producer, Greg Wells, who is a brilliant, brilliant producer who worked on the Wicked Soundtracks with Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Arimus, we had a hilarious Zoom call as soon as I got to London. And I was just kind of trying to gently explain why I didn't think that that was maybe a good idea.

53:28He was like, that makes a lot of sense.

53:32Ariana Grande:He was like, yeah. So I'm very grateful that there are no trap drums in popular. It was like, I was like, whoa, calm down. Now there's the musical aspect of the performance, and then there's the dramatic aspect of this performance. And you took things as seriously as ever and tried different training and methods. Can you just describe your approach in terms of there is a specific school of acting that you've adopted? There's also just and how you apply that to the backstory to the emotional triggers and things that you have to think about. Just take us behind the scenes on that. Yeah. So I worked with an incredible acting coach, Nancy Banks.

54:24Ariana Grande:I love her very much. She's just incredible. She's a healer as much as she's anything else. We discovered through our lessons that we started a long time before I got the part that I was really responding to the Stella Adler method. For those of you who are familiar, yes, come on. I just kind of wanted to design a completely fully fleshed out life for her and kind of an internal mapping of all of her emotional wounds and triggers. so that I knew her well enough that in the comedic moments, there was a person with insecurities and little wounds underneath the comedy. And then in the second movie, you get to kind of see those come to the surface and you kind of get to see her breaking point.

55:10Ariana Grande:And it was really effective for me because I feel like having to use my own triggers, I don't love doing that. When it comes to acting for me personally, I find it a little bit distracting And I know everyone has their own things and different things work for different people. But for me, I find it much more effective if I can just be Glinda and use Glinda's triggers. Yeah, I had to do a lot of daydreaming. And as you know, because you all do this, journaling and discovering what's in between the lines and figuring out where it all comes from. Yeah. The other, I get 100 % what you're saying about not separating yourself from what you're drawing upon for the character.

55:51at the same time I don't think there are too many people out there who could have more insight into what it's like to be popular and so I wonder if there was any aspect seriously like of what happens when people are always very excited to see you and are there aspects that were applicable to thinking about Glenda?

56:11Ariana Grande:There are certain things that are so adjacent that it's kind of like hard to avoid like even when I'm talking about her journey I have to really specify because there have been certain moments in our lives that are really adjacent and I've experienced a lot of grief I've experienced a lot of of loss and I've also I also know what it feels like to perform through it like a coping mechanism and I think that's kind of what she's doing a lot in this second movie especially so yeah it feels it feels it feels tricky so I kind of had to really put that away and go deep on designing what her traumas her experiences were so that I could use only those like and not those you know so yeah we have it we have similarities but we're also really different so let's go to you mentioned that you met at the age of 10 Kristin Chenoweth but you then met her again with this.

57:17So that relates to Madison Fyke's question. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. My question for you is, did you talk to Kristen Chenoweth about how she approached Galinda? And if so, did that help you to shape the way you approached her?

57:35Ariana Grande:You know, Kristen was so supportive of my audition process. She was very supportive we didn't talk a lot about specific glinda things because i think she was very encouraging of me playing kind of finding my balance between honoring the part that she co-wrote with winnie holzman you know a lot of these jokes are kristin's ad-libs and you know they created that together and winnie holzman is the real life glinda to be honest i don't know if you know her but she really is she's the one in the first movie he goes you must be a wizard in the Wizard Mania. She's amazing. She was really incredibly encouraging throughout my whole audition process.

58:15Ariana Grande:And she just said, don't be afraid to play around. I won't care if you make new jokes, like make it your own and really go for it. And she was an incredible support. So first Wicked, is there a scene that you are, that you were maybe most challenged by and you are now proudest of how it came through? I will just preface before you answer. I believe the first stuff you shot was in the dorm room including popular yes the first thing we shot was popular wow which seven minutes of the film yeah that is I mean seven minutes of the film must be days and days of shooting that right that's that is crazy was that the kind of most daunting it was really fun and I have to say like nothing really felt too daunting because John Chu our director just created the safest, most incredible space.

59:07Ariana Grande:And it just felt like even the hardest, most challenging days that we were so nervous about or with the biggest days, you know, just felt so safe. There was never a time when I was aware of like the scale, even when we were literally in Munchkin land because of how intimate he made it feel. So yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges, I'm going to name two, but there are plenty that are coming to mind. The end of popular in the pink hallway, where there's choreography going up and down the hallway, it's a one-er. That didn't exist until 72 hours before we shot it. Yeah, it was a spontaneous decision.

59:44Ariana Grande:We didn't know if we were going to go with the ending with all of the key changes, with all the modulations, or with the regular popular ending. And we would just have me come back inside and jump up the suitcases and the number. but when we got into the space Alice Brooks, our incredible DP and John loved the way the hallway looked so much and we didn't have much that we were shooting in that hallway and John and Chris Scott, our amazing choreographer, conspired and they were kind of like, oh, why don't we do a one-er and just choreograph something down the hallway Angel of Marbella back up. And meanwhile, I'm recovering from COVID.

1:00:29Ariana Grande:And I get to set. And it's like, you know, the strip, the line on the thing is like so faint. It's like almost gone. And I'm like, hi, I have my mask on. I'm just kidding. There was no line. And I show up with my mask and my sweatpants for my final day of rehearsal before we shoot Popular. And I learned the choreography that day. And then we just went for it. So 72 hours before, we didn't know that we were going to do that or that we were going to use that ending of popular. I think that counts as an appropriate answer to that question. Wait, there's one more. Oh yeah, please. I'm so sorry. There's one more thing.

1:00:59Ariana Grande:Another really interesting day was when we shot the part of Defying Gravity in the, we don't, we're not necessarily like all the way at the top of the Atticade, but it's right before we go up the stairs. I hope you're happy, that section. That was the first half of the day. And then after lunch, we shot me with the stairs in the pink dress at the end of movie two so that was the same day that's crazy and that was a challenge that I that I really enjoyed but that was a that was a peculiar day yeah well and you just mentioned something that people may not have known which is that these were shot simultaneously and not you know no almost no movie is shot in sequence but when you're doing multiple movies that are not shot in sequence you could be doing one day the first part of two and the last part of one and then all over the place right and in fact to that point I have a quote from John that I can't find so I'm gonna just leave it to you to explain how was that broken down and how do you as somebody who has to keep track of where your character is emotionally and all that how did you navigate that?

1:02:10Ariana Grande:Yeah, it was pretty crazy. We would be doing something at shiz where we're like young school students the first half of the week and then the second half of the week, I would be like sobbing in a closet grieving my best friend. And it's kind of the emotional gymnastics were were crazy, but in the best way in the way that I would do any day again, just the most delicious challenge. But yeah, I think some of the things that helped were the preparation that we talked about, doing your homework, making sure you know your person inside and out so that you can just be listening and responding, not overly rehearsing, just letting it be surprising to you in that moment.

1:02:53Ariana Grande:But as far as the time differentiation, you know, our hair and makeup department, our incredible costume designer, Paul Tazwell. He, yes. Oscar winner. Yes, Oscar winner. He, you know, it really is, it makes a huge difference to look in the mirror and see someone who looks different, who looks older. There are so many departments that contribute to these performances, even props having sort of journals and books that are on our bedside tables that are written in like fully lived in there are thousands of hands that like touch this set and this movie that contribute to making it easier but for me the most important part was the mental kind of game of getting to know her and making sure that I knew her well enough and even that can be a vocal difference too yeah no no and so the that would if somebody wanted to see like what does that look like come to life you're color coding your scripts your color like that kind of way of yeah so you can sticky tabs yeah for different insecurities and different things that would be like a different color for yeah when she's with someone that she loves and then when she's with someone that she loves but doesn't trust in this moment when she's hurting when she feels completely isolated even though there's a bunch of people around when she's performing versus when her guard is down.

1:04:23Ariana Grande:There was a bunch of color stuff happening in my script. So that helped me kind of organize it. And then I kind of just threw it away. So they were shot at the same time, but obviously there's this year gap in between. First, during that gap, we had the response to Wicked, the first Wicked, unbelievable box office performance, the highest grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. 10 Oscar nominations, including the one for you. That's happening, but also coming out in 2024 was seventh and most recent studio album that we've been talking about, Eternal Sunshine.

1:05:03We'll note that the song Ordinary Things featured your aforementioned Nona, who at 98 became the oldest person ever to make the Billboard. 99. 99. The oldest person ever to make the Billboard Hot 100. And I know that she sadly recently passed away, and that leads actually to our question from Jace Bowler. Hi. Hi, Ariana. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Thank you. My question is, your Nona was someone very inspirational to you, so what is the best piece of advice your Nona ever gave you that has helped you in your creative process slash career? Fuck them.

1:05:47It was, she had the most amazing way of simplifying anything I was ever going through, anything I was ever upset about, anything I was ever nervous about, insecure about, afraid of. Oh my God, she just had this badass Brooklyn way of like shutting out all of the noise and she would literally just say, fuck them. Yeah, it's quite simple, but I hear her saying it now. I hear her saying it, not you, not now, not you. But, you know, like to this day, to this day,

1:06:22Ariana Grande:I feel her in my ear and on my shoulder giving me strength when I feel like I don't have any. Oh, she was just the best. Yeah. We're going to zoom through a couple more of these student questions, starting with Sydney Sawyers. Yeah. Hi, thank you so much for coming. Your album Eternal Sunshine radiates some of the same energy that Glinda gives in Wicked. Since your film and music timelines overlapped with these two projects, was there any sort of reciprocal relationship between the two? I actually wasn't doing any music at all while we were filming Wicked. I kind of put it away. I did not enter a studio.

1:07:05Ariana Grande:I didn't write anything. I tried my very best to just kind of literally erase that part of my life. But it wasn't until the writer's strike happened and we had to stop. But I don't really know how to stop. And so I came to New York and I sort of thrust myself into the studio because I just was having big feelings. I needed a place to put them. And that is what happened. and then I was pretty much done with it by the time the strike was over and we got to go back and finish the films. And when I got back, thankfully, Glinda was still there waiting. And I was like, okay, she's still here. Yeah, they definitely, I think my experience with Glinda definitely informed Eternal Sunshine in a million ways.

1:07:51Ariana Grande:Like I said, it healed my relationship to music. I wasn't sure if I would do it again before I left for Wicked. I didn't know that I wanted to or that I would want to. I had some wounds that needed space and therapy, you know, and looking at before coming back to music. So I don't think Eternal Sunshine would have happened really without Glinda. So she definitely informed Eternal Sunshine, but Eternal Sunshine didn't inform Glinda. Does that make sense? Yes. Related question from Kenan Miller. Kenan Miller. What a reveal. Oh, my gosh. I love the reveal. Oh, yes. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay, there's a lot of text.

1:08:32Okay. Earlier this year, you co-directed and wrote Brighter Days for the deluxe edition of your album Eternal Sunshine, which really felt like a love letter to your past and your artistry. And I love the deluxe. Warm is my favorite song of that. Oh, thank you so much. Anyways, what inspired your decision to direct that? And do you see yourself directing a full-length feature in the future? Oh, gosh.

1:08:57Ariana Grande:I don't know. Well, I, the Brighter Days Ahead short film, I co-directed with Christian Breslauer, who is unbelievable. Yes. He's also, we're also collaborating on my tour, which is really exciting. Yeah. I love him. He's amazing. But yeah, I think it was just something where we really speak the same language. And he's one of those collaborators that I just feel like I was hit by a cosmic collision when I met him. And he just felt like the very right person to do that with. And I met him while I was still writing the album. And I would send him voice notes of the songs, like way before I was even ready to film a video, just because I wanted him to know what the nature of the album was and like have the whole story, all of the context, because I knew that I wanted him to be the person that did all of the videos and wanted there to be a connective tissue.

1:09:54Ariana Grande:So we started brainstorming really early on. and yeah we finally found a place to put all of the ideas that we were afraid we would never get to in the eternal sunshine short film and i'm really i'm really proud of it that's definitely my favorite album and also my favorite like visual thing i've ever been a part of that and we can't be friends which are both with with christian so yeah i love working with him sorry no i have a lot to say why do you keep apologizing because i'm so long-winded and you have so much there you still have like 20 pages no no no no no we're we're we're on the last page all right yeah no more you're right you've been great thank you in wicked for good you do something that you did not do in the first wicked because it wasn't an option which is perform an original new song that wasn't a part of the broadway musical that is the girl in the bubble from steven schwartz Can you tell me about that and why you have spoken so glowingly about it?

1:10:57What is it about that song and performing a new song for Wicked?

1:11:00Ariana Grande:Well, it's the most daunting thing in the world to hear that you're going to originate a Stephen Schwartz song for the Wicked movie. You know, that's just kind of insane. I was very nervous to figure out to find I'm not nervous. I you know, it's Stephen Schwartz. It's John Chu. I trust them with my life. But I was excited. I had a lot of anticipatory excitement around what's the song going to be? Like, is this going to be an attempt at like being like a popular two or something? Because I don't think that's a very good idea. But I when I heard it and I discovered that it was this like beautiful narrative piece, this very vulnerable thing.

1:11:38Ariana Grande:I was really grateful because I think that Glinda is a very complicated woman. She is a character who starts off in a place that I can't judge her because I have to love her to play her. But she starts off in a place that's not so great. She's a little superficial. She's a little insecure. She's a little bit ignorant, privileged in her bubble. To get to spend that moment with her where she is finally able to make a real change and become better is really a privilege. I'm so happy that that's what that song is, is that moment with her. Because in the show, you see her before that choice is made and after that choice is made.

1:12:27Ariana Grande:But I think letting the audience spend that moment with her, and especially starting it in utter silence, It's a beautiful thing, and it's a layer of context that I think she deserves as a character because I love her, and it humanizes her, and it lets people in. Absolutely. And also, sorry. No. And also, what I love about it is it emphasizes her loneliness in this movie. You know, Elphaba is literally alone, and she's experiencing extreme loneliness, But Glinda, who's surrounded by so many people and so much noise and so many strangers validating her worth and telling her that she's so goodly and all of this bullshit, when she knows that this isn't it yet, there is more.

1:13:23Ariana Grande:like I need to be doing more I can't be complicit in this regime I can't be perpetuating this narrative against my best friend I have to do the right thing so she feels an emptiness she's suffering for much of this story even though she her dreams have come true she's really suffering and she's very alone and I I love that sonically this song also tells that story too because it starts in utter silence and it's like I'm sorry we're almost done I'm sorry no this is great please stop apologizing okay so one last thing about just big picture about Wicked for Good and the world that it's kind of coming out into what I mean Wicked as we know as a property has been around for decades and yet it feels unfortunately in some regards extremely timely the we you know the kind of demonization of otherness which is the way they talk about it and anyone who's different that's the darker I guess side the more hopeful side is that there's this great depiction of friendship and how it can endure challenges and whatever so I want to ask you about the world that it's coming out into and why you think it might speak to this moment which I think clearly it does but also the friendship side I mean it's pretty clear that I mean you and Cynthia on screen and then off have a very special friendship that's come out of this you've held space and fingers for this um just uh you know I was at a thing last night where she was talking about you so I have to flip the flip the flip it around yeah absolutely you have to flip it around That's it.

1:15:12I'm going to keep doing it because it's my favorite thing in the world.

1:15:16Ariana Grande:I love her so much, and that's my favorite thing. The Wizard of Oz has always been political, you know? L. Frank Baum didn't shy away from it, and Gregory Maguire certainly didn't shy away from it. And when the original show came out, that was the conversation about how much the world needed it at that time. And we're still having that conversation today and then some because somehow things are even worse than they've ever been. Yeah, I really like that it challenges people to take a look at themselves, and I think Glinda is kind of an example that it's never too late, you know? You really can turn it around for people and become a better ally, become empathetic, take a look in the mirror.

1:16:07Ariana Grande:a lot of people are more like Glinda than they'd care to admit I think yeah I think it's an invitation to kind of take a look at how we can show up better for our neighbors our people we love the people who are in vulnerable positions right now and who are afraid it's an invitation to become more empathetic to be less judgmental to be an antidote to the culture that is so eager to boil things down to a 20-second TikTok or a headline and strip all humanness and context away, it's just kind of like, you know, it's a plea for empathy, really. And it's an invitation to be better to one another. Yeah.

1:16:54Thank you. Well said. Thank you. With our last approximately one minute, We are gonna zoom through meaning We're gonna flip it around flip it around fast questions, you know Compact if you can we want to get through a bunch of these so Keegan Demerell

1:17:19Hello, hi, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Okay? We're gonna get right to look. I'm sorry If we could forget had post-credit scenes that one year after the events of the film where you think Linda would be emotionally Oh, my God. I don't know. She and Chistry would be, like, having tea and, like, staring at the Grammarie and deciding what fabulous new spell they were going to do together next because she has magic now, everyone.

1:17:49Ariana Grande:And, yeah, I think they would be missing their dear friends, but they would be having a fabulous time making things right in Oz together. Sarah Huber. Huber. Hi. You started your acting career on the stage. Would you ever want to return to the stage? And if so, is there a show you would love to be in? I would. I would absolutely love that. There are a few. I mean, I'm too on the spot. This is too much pressure for this moment. But yes, I would love to. And I look forward to it happening. All right. Remy Edwards. Hello. Hey. Hi. Hi. Okay. What is something about your creative process now that your younger self would be surprised by?

1:18:34Oh. I don't know if she would be surprised. We've been pretty... I don't know. I think she's still in there running the show. I think she's still in there. We're very similar. I'm trying to think. I don't know if there are any surprises. That's fine. But she would be proud of all of the dreams that we've worked so hard to make happen. Yeah. Yeah. She was braver than me, and I'm proud of her. Yeah. Erica Gabriel. Hi. Hi. Hello. So which of the characters that you've played have you learned the most from? Oh, definitely Glinda. Not Cat. Not Chanel number two. Was it two? It was two? Three. Okay, thank you.

1:19:26Sorry. That's right. Thank you. Sorry, I'm trying to keep it quick. No, it was great. Thank you. No, no, no. Let's go to Dominic Gonzalez. Hi. How are you doing? Hi. You said that Glinda was a dream role of yours. Is there any others that you would like to pursue in the future? Oh, no. I have, I mean, yes, but I'm afraid to say anything

1:19:50Ariana Grande:because I think everyone will then latch on and say it's happening or something. I'm scared. I said in an interview the other day that I really liked puppets. And now everyone thinks I'm doing a puppet movie. But can I tell you the truth of why I got so nervous when I talked about it? I got nervous because I was really looking forward to this Jim Henson auction. Because I wanted to hopefully get some puppets in the auction. And I got nervous because I didn't want people to know that I was going to be there because they were going to try to outbid me and get my puppets that I wanted to get. I'm not doing a puppet movie yet.

1:20:24But now that we're talking about it, I'm putting it out there. I'm available for puppet movies. It's funny because Ryan Johnson, we just had on the podcast, he was saying that he's thinking about, there's been calls for a Knives Out Muppet movie. So maybe you'd be concerned. Oh, here's my chance. That's it. Just kidding. I'm sorry, that wasn't really an answer. The things that we do know are coming from you in the very near future are Focker-in-law, New Inflammable, the Meet the Parents franchise, I believe American Horror Story, and then this, for the first time in seven years, tour, Eternal Sunshine Tour, 41 shows that, I don't know what the one closest to here would be, but I think a lot of people will be coming to go.

1:21:13Oh, yeah? Come, come. Yeah, that'll be. So, just... You didn't get them? Okay, wait. Right, and I'm not kidding, we're going to figure something out. Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry. So I guess as a final question, we've covered this amazing journey that you've been on, and you have a lot of exciting stuff coming up. And I don't want to gloss over the fact that even more, I think, it's correct to say than with the first Wicked, with Wicked for Good, people are really particularly flipping out about your performance and the amazing work that you've done there. And in fact, just this morning, I believe, you were nominated for a Critics' Choice Award.

1:21:58And there are many that have come before and many that are still to come for that. I guess just take us into your headspace on what is today, December, what? 5th, 2025. This is our time capsule. What is Ariana Grande's outlook today? so that the next time you come and join us here at Chapman, which we hope will happen again. Yes, this was so much fun. I'm coming back.

1:22:27Just bottom line, how are you, you know, where are you right now? I feel deeply grateful.

1:22:36Ariana Grande:I really do. I feel so privileged that the things I always dreamt of doing are the things that consume my life and that make me tired and that make me jet lagged. I get to go around and support this project and I get to talk to people who care about something that I worked really hard on that I'm really proud of and I don't get tired of the conversations. I don't get tired of meeting people and I don't get tired of celebrating this work because I've dreamt my whole life to be able to do it. I feel really grateful and... Oh my God, I'm sorry. I really do. And art is like such a gift. We're so lucky to care and be creative and to have big ideas and big feelings and to share them with others and have them connect us to each other.

1:23:27It's like the greatest gift in the entire world.

1:23:30Ariana Grande:And, you know, we've been on this press tour for a while now and everyone comes up to me and is like, are you so ready for this to be done? Are you so tired? And I'm like, no, I feel such profound gratitude every day to be doing it. And if someone has seen the movie and wants to come up to me and talk to me about it, I feel so grateful for that. Like it's never going to not be a part of my human experience because I'll never get used to this. I'm so grateful to be here still. Well, we are so grateful that you included this in your schedule. And thank you for all the great work and for being here.

1:24:12Ariana Grande, thank you so much. I love you. Thank you so much.

1:24:19Thank you guys for being the best ever.

1:24:36Thanks for listening to Awards Chatter. We really appreciate it and would really appreciate you taking just a minute more to subscribe to the podcast and to leave us a rating and review on your podcast app. And to follow us on Twitter and Instagram, where our handle is at Awards Chatter. On those platforms, we announce upcoming guests and provide details about special live recordings of the podcast that you can attend. Until next time, thanks again for tuning in.

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