SmartLess - "Ariana Grande"
Episode Date: February 3, 2025We're having tea with the dames in heaven: it's Ariana Grande. Moon masks, singing on the treadmill, a wicked slumber, and an insane journey with music. Knock knock, is everyone ok? It’s an all-new ...SmartLess. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey.
Whoa, hi.
Hey, what are you doing?
Are you busy right now?
Because I'd love to do a podcast.
Oh, that's what we're doing.
Are you free?
I think we're doing.
Let's call Will really quick.
I think it would be better with three.
Ring.
Will?
Ring.
Hello?
You've reached the messaging of Will Arnett.
Oh, damn it.
Oh, shoot.
We missed him.
Feel free to start an all-new Smartless.
Oh, baby.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Feel free to start an all-new Smartless. Oh, baby!
You know, I've been thinking about going, not changing,
it's not really changing my name,
but I'm thinking about just going with Just Will.
Like kind of like share.
Are the words Just Will, Just and Will?
No, Will.
Yeah, but Just Will would be clearer.
Like more individual.
It's too close to Just Jack from that show.
I'm not familiar.
Me neither.
I don't know what the show, but.
So nobody's got, nobody picked Will yet,
just the word Will.
So I'm just gonna go Will, like you know how
like Brazilian soccer players just go with like Pepe
or whatever on the back of their,
so I just wanna do that.
Don't say yeah, Sean, you don't know what the hell
he's talking about. No I don't.
But you know what took me forever to realize,
you remember that?
Oh hang on, can I have a crack at this?
Because the list is long.
That the world might not be flat?
No, that will, I, will, period, I, period, M, period,
you know, the rapper, singer, guy, whatever.
Will.i.am?
Yeah, Will.i.am.
Yeah, is William, you stupid bastard?
I didn't realize that.
You're kidding, you're kidding.
I swear to God, till like a year ago,
I looked at it, I was like, oh, it's William. When you say you didn't realize that. You're kidding, you're kidding. I swear to God, until like a year ago, I looked at it, I was like, oh, it's William.
When you say you didn't realize,
how is that possible?
Well, nothing's gonna beat Beatles, right?
No, that beats Beatles to me.
That was a big shock to know.
Lots of people on my side, guys, lots of people on my side.
I think Will.i.am beats Beatles.
Will, I like that the hair is still growing.
You got a real Carol Brady kick out on the back.
I love it.
Are you gonna, what are we gonna do with it?
Have you settled on what the look's gonna be
for the big film?
No, I mean, I think you're kinda looking at it.
Am I looking at it, all right.
Yeah, there's not a whole lot.
Are you gonna put gel in it?
You gonna put mousse?
Well, it's gonna be all over the place
and it's gonna be, you know.
Yeah.
This is gonna be what it is, man.
You know, I'm kind of freewheeling.
You know me.
You're freewheeling.
This sounds rad.
Did you guys know anything about me?
You're talking to Will, simply, just Will.
Yeah, he's really easygoing and freewheeling.
Freewheeling.
You know, Scotty and I, I said to Jay,
we missed you last week, Will.
I know, I know, how was it?
It was fun, it was really small.
There was some good laughs.
It was plenty of oxygen for everyone with you not there.
Wow.
I think our audience will agree.
No, we did, now you were still in town
or you had just left Sunday?
I left Sunday night, yeah, yeah.
And now you're in New York and you're there for the hall,
for the long haul.
You're not gonna come back.
I'm gonna come back in a couple weeks for a weekend.
Yeah.
Grab some toiletries?
Grab a few misplaced items.
Some sundries.
And then, yeah, no, no, go back and see the kids
and then they're gonna come out here.
It's gonna be great.
I see you got the Whisper booth all set up, don't you?
Look at that. Yeah, I got it all set up.
You're leaving soon.
I'm leaving in three weeks, I think.
Yeah, I gotta start doing some homework, God damn it.
I've really been putting it off.
I'm like that though.
I just kick it all down the road, and then I cram.
What, you mean memorizing lines and stuff?
Well, just like rereading and rereading the scripts
and like I gotta figure out my look.
You know, I'm playing this St. Louis weatherman.
I think you got it.
I think you got it too.
No, hey, don't be hurtful.
You're default.
No, I've got a...
Tell us what it's like outside today.
Like it's gonna be a mustache and maybe parting the hair,
and some glasses, but I don't want to get too anchorman with it.
Sure. Yeah, yeah, you don't want it to be a cartoonic caricature.
You know, the other thing, JB, if you do happen to...
Guys, that's my ride.
If you do happen to...
By the way, our guest is in Times Square.
I'm so excited for this.
Um, just me.
She's selling pretzels live.
JB, I will say this and we can get your guest,
but if you do go the parted, I'm excited if you go parted
because it'll mean you're finally put like a comb
or a brush in your hair.
This is gonna be exciting for everybody.
I might actually blow dry it too.
Wait, it looks so terrible.
It's gonna be gigantic.
It's gonna be like that.
Wait, I wanna tell you, Willie,
that I said to Jay on Sunday,
we got a turntable, Scotty and I, for Christmas, you know?
Did I tell you that already?
Two turntables and a microphone.
No.
Did I tell you, I got a stack of wax here
that I'm just looking to put on somewhere, you know?
No, seriously, it's so fun.
We put it on at night and we just listen to like soundtracks
or whatever.
Like I haven't listened to vinyl since I was a kid.
Can you just hold on a second?
So even when you're on vinyl, you're listening to Star Wars?
Yeah, a little bit.
Fucking.
And E.T.
Even when you're on a record.
The E.T. soundtrack.
Jesus Christ.
He's got a vinyl of the Star Trek and Star Wars soundtracks.
Hey Sean, when TikTok went dark, did you and Scotty make your final promises to each other?
Can you imagine Sean and Scotty putting on a record, putting the needle down the record
and just dancing around the house there just like they don't care?
They're not dancing, they're going like, this is the part, remember when Elliot gets on his bike
and he puts him in the basket?
Do a dance for that.
Do a dance for that.
Totally.
This is when he comes and he's in the closet
and he puts his finger out and he says,
he won't go home.
Do you remember that?
All right, today.
And he's got the shaky hands, yeah.
Today.
Today.
We've got a guest who's just starting to get a little momentum and show business.
We're excited to have her here at the beginning.
So far, she's off to a good start though
with the singing stuff.
She's sold over 90 million records.
She's got 50 billion streams
and she's got a couple of Grammys.
What are you talking about?
Yeah, with the acting, latest film's just gone past 700 mil.
She happens to be the seventh most followed person
on Instagram with 376 million followers
and she's got a cosmetic line and fragrance line
that's earned just over a billion.
So she's got a little bit of wind at her back now.
She's stopping by for a little advice and encouragement
from us geniuses before she officially gets out there
and gives it a go.
Please give an incredible hello
to the incredible Ariana Grande
Come on out!
That was very silly
Hi guys!
Hi Ariana!
Oh my gosh this is exciting
I'm so happy to be here with you guys
I know, I'm happy you said yes and you're here
Wait where are you Ariana? New York?
Big getch A.B. What did you do?
What strings did you pull?
It's a lot because you're a very expensive guest right here, guys, so use your time wisely.
Stop.
I love you all so much and I love the show so much.
I am so happy to be here.
Oh, you've never heard it.
You're very nice to say that.
Even for a podcast, you look gorgeous.
I mean, even just for showing up.
Oh my God, thank you.
Yeah, we could have been like this.
You didn't have to.
Oh my God, that's so nice.
How are you?
How is everyone? How are you guys?
Everyone is good.
We're all really good. How are you is more to the point.
My gosh, you got so much going on. How are you?
I'm good. I'm currently in London and I just got here.
So I'm just adjusting to the time.
Yeah, the jet lag's no good?
No, it's like it's fine. You know, you get to a point where you're just kind of like,
whatever, whatever needs to be will be.
I feel like it's worse coming back, right?
It's worse coming back to the States.
No, no, from LA to London or anywhere in Europe is the worst on the planet, I think.
And then coming back is really fun because then you're a morning person for a while.
Yeah.
Right, right, right.
I love that.
Did you just get in there today?
Yeah, we just got here. So I'm excited. Right, right, right. I love that. Did you just get in there today?
Yeah, we just got here.
So I'm excited.
Right.
This is a great fun way to start the trip.
But let's start there.
So like you're okay with the amount of things you take on
and the way you fill your day.
I mean, I guess I should put that in the form of a question.
Are you okay with it?
How much time do you sort of allocate to just hanging out?
I mean, I feel really grateful for the balance
that I have found.
I mean, this whole wicked journey
has been quite different for me.
And it's been obviously full steam ahead,
but it's been so beautiful and so fun.
I really feel like maybe when I was younger my head, but it's been so beautiful and so fun.
Maybe when I was younger and it was during my first few years as a pop star, I really
struggled with boundaries and not being able to say no when I needed to, because if I was
running on empty.
But I really do feel like I've been able to find a balance and also a team who's really
protective and amazing.
And I love it.
I really feel like I've thoroughly been able
to enjoy this wicked insanity.
I feel so present and grateful
and that's been so beautiful.
Well, Sean, you had a tough time with Boundaries
when you first were introduced to Oreos.
Like you.
No.
You did.
I still do.
I have to have them locked away.
There's a lock on the door.
There's a lock on the door.
Wait.
So dumb.
So dumb.
So dumb.
Oh, there's lots of dumb.
Oh, wait a minute.
What are we getting?
Ariana, what if this was your press junket for the sequel to Wicked?
Right now.
You started now.
I love it.
Where does it end?
Where does one end?
You'd be like, why is it so low rent?
Shut up!
We love, by the way, we love Wicked.
We love the great Mark Platt.
He's a friend, a long time friend.
Love Mark and all the people involved with it.
And you guys did an amazing job.
Incredible. Tears, real tears in my eyes.
And you've already shot the second one, right?
Yes. Second one is done.
We haven't seen it yet.
Really?
Not done. Yeah.
And it comes out maybe like this time next year?
I have seen it.
Yes, the same time next year, so November 22nd, but next year.
I have seen it and it's not good.
Ariana, you're barely even in it.
All your stuff can be reshot. I don't want you to worry about it.
Thank you for telling me.
Thank you for having my back.
So then you're set to start that junket in a few months.
I mean, I suppose so.
I think maybe there'll be a little bit of space
in the summer.
Let it breathe for a second, but it's very exciting.
I mean, the response has just been so insanely
not what you expect or ever would anticipate ever.
I know, could you imagine if it was just a big turd
and you already, you had the second one already ready to go
and you just knew you had like turn the interest.
Well, that could still happen, God forbid,
but you never know, I'm just kidding.
I've done that, I'm sure we all have, right?
We've gotta talk about something that just didn't work.
Wait, so Ariana, the last time I saw you
was Hairspray Live.
Yes.
And we would share a trailer
and you told me the funniest stories
that I cannot repeat.
We would giggle.
Wait, wait, go back, go back.
The last time we saw each other,
in Nancy, try not to slur your way through your words.
Was where?
Hairspray Live on NBC.
Hairspray Live, okay.
And you were sharing a single trailer or we were in a double banger? No, the hair and makeup. The hair and makeup. Oh, thank you. And you were sharing a single trailer
or we were in a double banger?
No, the hair and makeup.
Hair and makeup.
Oh, gotcha, okay.
So we shared a chair.
Very fun times.
I didn't even know you used to do your hair and makeup.
So talk a little bit about that.
Oh my goodness.
Were you just doing a blowout shot?
I didn't think she looked so good.
Ariana, we did a weird talk show in the UK
like 10 years ago.
Do you remember that?
At the same day? Wait, no. Uh-oh. What weird talk show did the UK like 10 years ago. Do you remember that? At the same day?
Wait, no.
Yeah.
What weird talk show did we do?
It was called...
Chatty Man?
Yes!
Yeah, with the drink cart.
And like I think I rode the bicycle.
Oh my God, that's right!
It's back!
Wait, I really leave an impression.
It's not you, it was the boundaries, remember?
Maybe, was it bad bad?
It was just me, I'm missing a couple of years.
I'm super serious from that time. I'm missing a couple of years,
I'm super serious from that time,
I'm literally missing a few years.
Well, so let me remind you,
it was disgraceful, your behavior.
Oh no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, you were great.
Me?
No, no, you were great.
Okay, good.
You were great, but what I wanted to,
but we met at the time and you were,
how old were you when you first released
your first record as a pop star?
I think I was 19 when my first single
off my first album came out, or 20.
I was either 19 or 20.
And had you been making music since you were a kid?
She was in the musical 13 on Broadway.
Yeah, I was a total theater nerd.
I did Broadway first when I was 14.
And then I was acting for a little bit.
But I was always simultaneously writing songs and doing music.
I just never expected it to kind of take over the way that it sort of did
in a beautiful way. I just think that there was no way to kind of prepare for the way that it sort of did in like, you know, a beautiful way.
I just think that there was no way
to kind of prepare for that, especially, yeah.
So you were a theater nerd and then you were like,
oh, wait a second, the world wants me to be a pop star.
You just kind of went that way for a while?
Yes, I mean, I was, I am a theater nerd through and through
and you know, this very insane journey with music kind of took over my life for a very long time through and through.
Yeah, it was just crazy because when I was younger, especially after doing 13 on Broadway, I was kind of like,
how cool, I get to be part of the theater community.
I can't wait to be like the understudy for the Thoroughly Modern Millie revival
and maybe be in the ensemble on the days when I'm not being the swing.
And then I'll do music on the side and hopefully someone will listen to it and that can be like a little side thing
and hopefully someone will be into it.
These are all things that are on Sean's,
yeah, they're all on Sean's vision board.
You just named everything that's on his vision board.
Well then, speaking of theater then,
musical theater, was there, what was it like the first time
you saw Wicked on Broadway?
Was that?
I mean, it was life changing.
It was literally life before and after seeing Wicked,
my life in two chapters.
Did you see it with Idina Menzel and Chenoweth?
I did, I was very spoiled, I can't believe I got to,
I saw it with the original Broadway cast.
When was that?
And I was 10.
Was it like 10 years ago?
Yeah.
Oh, 20 years ago.
20 years ago. 21.
21 years ago.
Wow, wow, crazy.
Yeah, it was crazy.
I mean, it changed my life.
I was so obsessed.
And it's gotta be so surreal, like, yeah, seeing that,
and then now you're in it, like, Glinda, it's wild.
So then, can I ask then, did you hear that they were making
a movie of Wicked and you threw your hat in the ring?
Yes, that's putting it very lightly.
Really?
I was stalking Mark Platt. Like, I actually was like, literally in the bushes outside his house. Yes, that's putting it very lightly.
I was stalking Mark Platt.
I wasn't, but maybe I was.
I was on the Sweetener tour and I had heard murmurs of,
okay, this thing is gearing up to happen and I told my team, I was like, hey, we're going to have to have a plan. I don't know what to do.
But if God forbid, if God forbid I'm still on the road when this thing starts happening,
we are going to have to like, you know, refund some tickets, pay everyone working on the
tour to just like, you know, here's what you whatever go away.
I have to figure this out.
I have to, I have to give my everything to this
my full-time gig, I have to do everything in my power
just to get a chance to earn it. I want to make sure that when my audition,
if I get an audition, that I'm fucking ready with every...
Did they make you audition?
Yeah, I mean, of course it's wicked.
Of course it's wicked.
Would you have to do like a self-tape
or did you go in there in person?
No, you go in.
On your phone.
I mean, it was such a, it was a thorough experience
as it should be.
I mean, I think, you know, there's just so much
that is required of Glinda that's so different
from what I usually do.
I am Ariana, I'm five foot six, I'm from New York,
and this is my first.
Wow, five six, do I present five six?
I wish, oh my God, wow.
Wait, what's amazing though? You're five six presenting. And this is my first. Wow, 5'6", do I present 5'6"? I wish, oh my God, wow.
No, I'm sorry.
What's amazing though.
You're 5'6' presenting.
5'6' presenting, no, sorry.
What's amazing though about what you just said
about having to audition and show up and show your,
I was just blown, everybody knows you can sing
and sing really well.
Thank you, that's amazing.
But to be able to legit sing like that,
like you, like, we both go, we both see Eric Vitro.
Eric taught me how to sing and he coaches you
and he's the greatest vocal coach ever.
In the world, yeah.
Yes, and to watch you, like, I was talking to Jason and Will
about the athleticism of your voice and Cynthia's voice
and like what that requires, I'm watching you on screen like breathing with you
like as you and then the legit like diaphragm
like the power you have is so incredible
and you can't teach it, you know?
Thank you, that is so nice.
Sean, is it, Arianna, is there a,
when you're dancing and singing
at the same time, do you constantly have to monitor
not running out of breath because you're dancing?
Like you need the breath for singing,
but you also need to, you're like,
you're exercising with dancing too.
Is that a challenge?
Well yeah, I thought I,
it's just kind of something that you build up to.
So there's a lot of physical training.
There's like, you know, whatever you can do,
cardio pilates every morning, then before the rehearsals,
hopefully it feels like a little easier.
Like the more you do ahead of it,
the more it's easier to, you know, singing on the treadmill.
Do you sing on the treadmill to get used to it?
Sometimes, yeah.
Yeah, I didn't know how.
But you know, I was thinking that like,
all that training that you did, again,
you started in the theater and then you kind of,
you know, became this huge pop star but maintained that love for theater. I wonder if, and I'm asking,
I guess, being on tour and singing and performing in front of big, huge audiences must have
been all those years turns out was maybe great preparation, was it?
Yeah, it's funny because I feel like it's like, yes, but also I feel like working with
Jason Robert Brown at the age of 13 was my preparation for that.
I was like, oh my goodness, the only reason I can keep up with this tour where I'm singing
all of these songs live for two and a half hours every night or however long it is or
whatever it is, that it's very demanding and then traveling on a dry bus or in a dry plane
or whatever it is. that it's very demanding and then traveling on a dry bus
or in a dry plane or whatever it is.
The only reason I can keep up with that, I credit to being on Broadway.
So it goes back and forth kind of.
It's just this stamina that I am so grateful that I got to build at a young age because Jason gave me the hard, I couldn't, I love Jason Robert Brown because he is like,
can you do that?
And it's like, I don't know.
And he's like, you got it.
And it's just like, okay, great, I figure it out.
Because he said you got it, you got it, yeah.
Yeah, it's like a second longer of a note
than you think you can hold, or a higher note,
one note higher than you think you can sing.
And he's like, perfect, you take that harmony.
And I think that trained me to be able to do
the singing that I was doing,
and then it went back and forth, I suppose.
And forgive the term legit, because it's all legit.
Even pop singing is legit.
No, I know what you mean.
You know what I mean.
So, do you want to do more of that?
Because I'd never seen you do that until Wicked.
I'd never seen you sing legit like that.
Well, you know, it felt really wonderful
to kind of have a little surprise.
And so it was really special for me.
Yeah.
And we will be right back.
And now back to the show.
Backing up a little bit,
the start of your career was great.
So you do like this big musical on Broadway.
You start doing some acting and that really takes off
as far as kid success goes,
like you're killing it
because you're on a big series,
I think on Nickelodeon perhaps. and all the while you're thinking and dreaming and trying for some singing as
well and that's really the passion and your team is probably, I'm assuming, kind of supportive
yes but not really sure, well should we throw the baby out with the bath water, can we do
both?
Like what was the thing in singing, what was the big success that gave you comfort
and your team comfort that you could kind of transition
away from acting a little bit more
and really pursue this musical career?
Well I think it just kind of, I followed it in a way.
Because you know, the whole time I was a cat on Nickelodeon,
I was also writing like pop R&B music on the side.
I would go from set
to the studio and I would be making these songs that I was probably too young to put out yet.
And it was just a funny, interesting thing. And I remember there was a blurry time when
Nickelodeon kind of wanted the music that I was writing
to potentially be for the show.
So there was a moment where I actually put out a song with a red hair
and it was very kind of in the Cat Valentine mindset
because I didn't know if I was supposed to be myself yet or not.
And then someone that I was very close to that was very supportive
and a really, really, really loving, wonderful person
in my life was like, hey, they're going to love you
as you, with brown hair, singing R&B inspired pop,
and just fucking wing it and put that out.
And I did, and it was really cool.
It was cool to see the people not know the connection or discover that and then realize
the connection.
They accepted you.
It was just cool.
Yeah, it was scary but cool and I've learned a lot along the way.
It's weird.
Oh, that's great.
What you've done, and again, you've done this, in the music space and the acting space
and the combo with the musicals.
And now, as Jason said, when he interviewed you,
you're getting into other businesses and cosmetics,
I guess, and a lot of other things.
Like you're taking on a lot of,
are those other things giving you that same,
are you getting that same sort of like hunger for success in those other areas? Are you finding that same sort of hunger for success
in those other areas?
Are you finding them rewarding,
getting into business and doing stuff like that?
Has that been a fun experience?
It's definitely been a fun experience.
And I definitely love creating in all capacities
and storytelling in any capacity.
I really do love my fragrance and my beauty brand
and that stuff is like, it's really fun.
And I think it's a totally different part of my brain.
My mom is a CEO and she's very much a business person.
My dad is an artist, so I think I kind of sit
exactly in between the two of them
and these two parts of me are very hungry
in very different ways and I enjoy it.
I enjoy creating, but I think obviously my loves of my are very hungry in very different ways and I enjoy it. I enjoy creating but I think obviously
my loves of my life are acting in music.
It's not even a comparison.
I feel grateful for every area in which I can be
a creative person who makes stuff.
But it's not necessarily the same,
but it's something I love very much.
You know, when you said earlier about,
with the music you weren't really sure
if you were allowed to be you,
and it's sort of a weird question,
but with all of the success that you are having
and have had in all of these different areas,
all of those things can be really affecting
on who you are, obviously to the public,
but really who you are internally
because they can kind of pull you and push you
into areas of yourself you would like to be
or areas that you really didn't think that you were
or at least the perception of you.
So, excuse me, how are you managing
keeping a natural sort of progression of who you are,
who you would like to be as far as letting these outside things identify who you are?
And does that make any sense?
No, it makes total sense and it's also something that I have to be so protective of.
Because I think like as an artist,
the most important thing is authenticity
and kind of making the records that I want to make.
Talking about the things, singing about the things
that mean something to you, right?
Totally, but you know, I also am like a cancer
and a recovering people pleaser, and I like, in the past,
oh yeah, hi, hello. Recovering people pleaser. I I like, in the past, oh yeah, yeah, hi, hello.
Recovering people pleaser.
I am, I am, I am.
I wish there were a group, oh my God, I'm meeting.
Let's start, just me and you.
Let's go, please, I'm serious.
Hang on one second, so Jason, pleasing people is something,
okay, how do you phrase this?
But no, I feel like-
That is such a great term.
But it's true, it's such a thing that we have to fight to protect as people who have a connection with
our listeners, our fans, and also remaining true to ourselves and what's in our hearts.
And I feel like I've been doing a really great job at that recently, but it's just such a hard line to walk.
It's like, no, I'm going to write the songs I want to write.
I have to make the album that I want to make,
and I have to kind of tune as much of the noise out
so that I can just be an honest person,
which has been hard work,
especially when you come into it at 19, sorry.
No, that's great.
You know, I was thinking too, like, total, by the way, exact same person. Long-winded, I'm like so long- at 19, sorry. No, that's great. You know, I was thinking too, like,
total, by the way, exact same person.
Long-winded, I'm like so long-winded, sorry.
No, same.
No, that's what you're for.
No, yeah.
And we're going to cut all of it out.
So the, I'm kidding.
My whole, just my whole presence.
Cut the whole presence.
No, no, no.
Sorry, he's going to ask you questions,
so get ready to think of your favorite colors right now.
Go ahead, Chuck.
Or something weird happened on stage, maybe. Something weird happened in the theater colors right now. Go ahead, Sean. Or something weird happened on stage.
Something weird happened in the theater.
Oh yeah, well.
Anybody ever get lippy in the audience?
Oh my God, I could talk to you for 17,000 hours about that.
Go ahead, Sean, then do it.
No, Ariana, like in the back of your head,
get like a great theater story ready,
because I love those.
Like things that go wrong, like I have so many of them.
But, but.
Still did it, did it anyway.
Yeah, well, did it anyway. I have, well, you get it ready.
So I want to talk about like getting,
do you have a, what is it like with the,
how do you handle the ups and downs of being,
I hate saying this, but relevant,
because for example, like Taylor Swift,
like I don't remember anybody talking about her
five, six, seven, eight, nine years ago.
I mean, sure, she had many, many fans
and she was very famous and popular,
but she wasn't like she is now.
And it goes up and down and up and down
for everybody in this entire entertainment business.
And so for me, I've always been a huge fan of yours,
but Wicked really like, oh my God,
there's Ariana Grande and everything.
And it's not that people didn't think that
when you had an album come out or a tour come out,
but the ups and downs when you're quiet.
Yeah, there's spikes.
Yeah, there's those spikes.
How do you handle or what do you do during the low spikes?
I don't know.
I mean, I try not to look at spikes
or for them or monitor them.
Yeah, very good.
I kind of try to, I think I'm'm a person who wasn't meant to be famous,
but I love the art of making and creating so much
that I think my insatiable need to just make things
and create and try to push myself to grow
in different directions
and learn new things and see what I can.
I kind of try to focus on that as much as possible
and I think it helps me survive.
Otherwise I really think if I paid more attention
that I would go away.
I think it's just too scary.
Well you're adding layers to it too, which is really cool.
You're adding different dimensions to what you do.
So it's like people can't just go like, what is Ariana Grande?
They're not like, oh she's just a pop star.
No, she's an actress.
That's such a scary thought to even think like, oh what are they thinking right now?
Like the healthiest thing for me is to disconnect as much as humanly possible.
Of course I have like the internet and I'm on my phone.
I love Instagram, but I'm a person who tries
to maintain a healthy distance from it.
It's like the same thing I would tell a young person
who's like, what do you do when you hear no all the time?
Those spikes feel like big nos again.
It feels like I didn't get a call back
for a chitty chitty bang bang
and I'm eight years old or something.
Like it's the same thing.
But I'm serious.
It's the same feeling.
As you add those layers and you have those moments,
what are the things then now as you kind of look forward
and go like, okay, I've done that.
What are the new targets?
Do you have new targets in mind?
Yeah, how do you define success nowadays? Yeah, yeah, exactly new, do you have new targets? How do you define success nowadays?
Yeah, yeah, exactly, how do you find success?
Oh my goodness, I, first of all, all of you have to answer
this hard ass question after I'm done.
Everyone has to answer, we're taking turns.
This is the first official meeting
of people pleasing recovery.
I'll bet it's somewhere around,
are you able to maintain happiness and calm and peace
and harmony each day amidst so much complicated,
challenging kind of stuff.
And noise.
Yeah, I suppose it's like, yeah.
I mean, amen to that.
I mean, how can we find that balance,
maintain that balance, but also like,
is the work that I'm taking on something
that can challenge me, that I can grow from,
that I haven't done before, that I'm learning from,
that I'm giving like to the character in the same way
that it's maybe going to teach me or feed me, I don't know.
And maybe success is the experience of creating
and not the result of.
Right, totally.
Maybe it's like.
I don't think so.
Okay.
Yeah, I mean, it's probably true with anybody on the planet,
no matter what industry or occupation they're in,
if you can maintain happiness each day,
because it's such a slippery thing, right?
JB, we talk about it all the time,
which is this notion of, look, we have the benefit, I'm, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good of what I do professionally. So how I feel is not a reflection of what I do.
I've really been able to separate those things up
because if I try as hard as I can
to not be at the effect of circumstances,
if I'm only happy if it's sunny out,
then what the fuck happens when it rains?
Then I'm fucked.
So I gotta figure out a way to be happy no matter what.
And those are sometimes just the smallest things.
And family, we all have kids,
so it's like my relationship with my kids,
if my kids are happy, then I'm happy,
all that kind of stuff, those are the things
that really come to the forefront
and become important, my relationship with my friends.
Yeah, stuff you can control.
Stuff you can control,
but also stuff that's really, that's for real important.
You know, my relationship with these guys
is very important.
Staying connected, talking about what's going on,
all that kind of stuff.
And everything else, when you kind of right size
all that other stuff, it feels so much better.
I don't know if you guys agree, but it does for me.
For sure, yeah.
I fully agree.
Yeah, and Arianna, I know you didn't ask for this,
but you've gotten it because you are
seemingly such a kind and easily likable, lovable person,
not to mention your success,
but the youth really looks up to you and follows you.
And so how do you manage that sort of responsibility
that again, you didn't sign up for, but you've got it.
Do you think about that like when you're writing lyrics
or when you're taking on roles or is any of that factor in?
No, I mean, yeah, I mean, here's the thing.
Probably not an effort
because you're just naturally sort of a decent person and they're
going to follow a good example.
I mean that's very generous and kind.
I just feel like it's kind of a really specific and strange thing to become a public person
at like a really young age and then to have kind of all this normal growth that happens in everyone's
twenties and young teen years and whatever it is in front of an audience and in front
of people who, you know, don't have to have every mistake that they've ever made flash
in front of them and like remind it every two seconds. It's like, it's interesting.
It's like a funky thing. But you know, all we can actually do is grow and be human.
Become more and more human, I think, in the face of being dehumanized and objectified.
We can just become more and more human, I guess.
Well, that's interesting.
Again, it sounds like there's some kind of international incident going on outside your hotel.
Yeah, are you somewhere in the middle?
They're going to find you, Ariana. But, but, but, but, you bring up a,
that must be interesting in a very unique situation
and something that's been talked about
and obviously JB was a, Jason was a performer
when he was young and grew up,
grew up in that world as well in a different way, but.
Singing and dancing.
Singing and dancing, his two,
if you want to, if you want Jason to die on the spot,
tell him he's gotta sing and dance
and he will expire in front of you.
Give a toast.
Give a toast, while giving a toast.
Yeah, giving a toast.
But, Arianna, to go through your 20s
with that kind of scrutiny, talk a little bit about that.
I can't imagine, I think about, you guys,
think about all the dumb shit you did in your 20s,
and then imagine growing up in this world,
the digital era, where everything is,
people got an opinion on it, it gets broadcast, I mean.
Yeah, people got phones to record you
when you're not looking.
Yeah, it must be really hard to get your head around it
and get your heart around it and all of it.
Yeah, I mean, I'm a very sensitive person. So I can't say it's something that I have done particularly well with.
Well, it's okay.
But it's also something that I have had the help of, you know, my loved ones and therapy and time and art and just a love for,
and also a deep sense of gratitude for what I am
so privileged to be able to do.
That has kind of gotten me through it.
Every time I kind of experienced that,
I just kind of had to disconnect, I suppose, for a little.
Because, again, back to the cancer people-pleasing,
there was always a part of me that wanted to kind of explain
or do a big, you know, come talk to the world
and come talk to everyone about what the truth is
and whatever it is that I'm experiencing,
that whatever, or explain things, and overshare, you know,
for the sake of being understood
by a humongous thing of strangers. for the sake of being understood
by a humongous thing of strangers.
And it's just a strange thing to feel at such a young age,
and what is the boundary there,
and what's a healthy relationship to it,
and how do you protect yourself
for the sake of being able to continue.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, continue, and just to live.
Yeah, yeah.
For what it's worth, from the outside, it seems like you've, continuing, just to live. Yeah, yeah. For what it's worth from the outside,
it seems like you've done a fantastic job with that.
I agree.
I agree.
Oh my God, that's so nice.
And speaking of continuing, you know, like-
Sean does not agree.
No, I actually just texted you, Ariana,
I texted you a bunch of thoughts.
So, no, but speaking of continuing,
like what I love about you amongst many things
is your ability to surprise people
with choices and things you do.
So you go from Broadway, then you go to be a pop star,
and then you're an actress,
and then you do all of these things.
But one of the things that was so surprising
was I don't think anybody knew
how unbelievably hilarious you are.
Like, and you're Saturday Night God, that's so nice.
And you're Saturday Night Live, we like died laughing,
and your Jennifer Coolidge impression,
like all of your impressions are so incredible.
How weird in the world, nobody knew you could do that.
And so it's like, if we don't know you can do that,
imagine the next hundred things you're going to do
over the next 50 years or whatever.
Yeah, exactly.
I'm so excited.
Can you give us a little Jennifer Coolidge?
Hey, Jen, what...
Jennifer, what...
Why weren't you on...
Can she visit with us real quick?
Can we get her to mess this you up?
Why weren't you on the White Lotus, the sequel?
The White Lotus, Jennifer.
They fucking killed me off.
They pushed me off a goddamn boat.
Oh, my God. I's so good, right guys?
No, I didn't want to die.
Jesus Christ.
But I guess I'm dead.
Oh my god.
That's creepy.
It's just close your eyes.
Come back.
So good.
I love her.
I love her too.
Shit, that's fucking flat out.
Oh my god.
Thank you so much.
Sean, that must make you want to have talent, right?
I mean, just hearing her do that.
You.
All I want is a little bit of talent.
I want to have a little bit of talent.
I want to have a little bit of talent.
I want to have a little bit of talent. I want to have a little bit of talent. I want to have a little bit of talent. I want to Wow. Sean, that must make you want to have talent, right?
I mean, just hearing her do that.
You.
All I want is a hot dog.
I can't do the music.
Jesus Christ.
Ariana, so that reminds me, the whole voice thing,
and like, what is the weirdest thing you do
to prep your voice when you're about to go do a concert?
Are you breathing a bunch of steam?
Are you gargling milk?
No, no. Never milk.
What goes on?
Different things call for different kind of routines and tools, I guess.
I feel like, I don't know, I feel like a nerd, but if you need the extra,
you can have a little vocal box where there's all of the lozenges and sprays
and hydration things and whatever.
But that's mostly if you're fatigued or have a cough or whatever it is.
I think the thing that I do that perplexes people so much,
and it's just so funny because if you're a person who uses their voice,
you know about this, is if I have a long day of press or if I have to sing,
I'll place it vocal placement to kind of preserve.
But that is just kind of something that's healthy
for the voice and whatever.
That's something I do.
Because staying higher gives less stress on it
than talking in a lower register?
Yeah, so it's just like basically pitching your voice
up a tiny bit.
I agree, that's what I do.
I do the same thing.
Yeah, but, yeah.
Yeah, but it's just a normal thing for vocalists,
but people are like, that's not her natural voice.
And I'm like, well, it is actually,
but it's just a little higher because it's,
all of it is natural.
And it's so funny, because we talked about it
a zillion times and people are still like,
where's your real voice?
And I'm like, well, they're all, they all are, so it's just interesting.
Yeah, do you sing every day?
No, sometimes, I mean, casually, yeah.
Actually, now that I think about it,
I'm kind of insufferable to be around
because I do sing all the time every day.
And yeah, the answer is yes, not no.
The answer is yes.
I sing in the shower all the time.
I wouldn't dare.
All the time.
What do you sing, Sean?
I sing the national anthem. Can we get a little taste of it? the time. What do you sing, Sean? I sing the national anthem.
Can we get a little taste of it?
Can we have it?
Go ahead, Sean.
Just a little bit.
And the rocket's red glare.
The water trying to get back up into the faucet.
That's gorgeous.
I'm bursting in air.
Right.
You're welcome.
Choices.
I love it.
So speaking of...
He proved the law. Wow, wow, wow. The law.
No.
Hey.
Hahaha.
We'll be right back.
And back to the show.
Speaking of routines, walk us through a typical day for you if nothing's on your plate.
You have a completely free day.
Ooh. Are you one that sleeps in? Do you like to read? Let's go through a typical day for you if nothing's on your plate. You have a completely free day.
Are you one that sleeps in?
Do you like to read?
Are you watching dumb movies?
If you got nothing on your plate,
what's the day look like?
Oh, I love this.
I love to, well, I love to wake up early.
I do.
Like if I need it, I feel like my body will tell me.
And I get like one sleep in a month.
Like the whole month is relying on this one day
where my body just decides that it's going to sleep
and then it sleeps.
You know what I mean?
Like a really scary slumber.
Like knock knock, is everyone okay?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
Otherwise you're up at the crack of ice.
Yeah, I just get up and I like to do my steps.
I like to pace on the treadmill with my little iPad
and I either like I'm playing a game, a virtual game,
or I'm texting my team and like whatever.
I'm very creative when I'm on the treadmill.
So I have ideas and I'll send like crazy voice notes
to Christian Breslauer, the director that I work with
on all my music videos.
I don't know, I always have ideas on the plane.
I'll either be texting him or my stylist Mimi or my team.
I'll be like, oh my God, we forgot to talk about this.
I wanted to talk about this.
It gets my brain going.
I love to get my steps done early.
And then I'll hang out.
I'll either like, you're laughing at me already.
I haven't even said anything.
I like to cook.
I like to play games with my family. I like to cook on the treadmill.
No.
What's your go-to dish?
What do you cook best?
Well, I'm vegan, so I like to make,
yeah, I love to roast, like,
mushrooms of different variants
and make like a vegan pesto and make like,
why you hate mushrooms?
I like it.
I don't eat mushrooms, I can't eat mushrooms.
Tofu, sweet potatoes.
I love to like.
So then you can have pasta as a vegan, right?
Yeah, yes.
All right, so then you're doing the pesto with the pasta.
I'm back in, I'm back in.
Oh yeah, but I'm Italian, so we have to have that, you know.
Do you spend any time over there in Italy?
No, no actually.
I haven't been since I was on tour,
and I would love to in a more meaningful way,
because I get to have more time away.
Because so much is required of you every day of your life
in so many areas, are you a germ freak?
Are you like, I can't get sick, I can't get sick?
I am a little bit of a germ freak.
I do maintain the mask stuff.
Oh, you do?
I love a mask.
I've always been a little bit of a germ person,
a little bit of a OCD germ person.
Not like, more with mask than it is
like obsessive compulsive purelling.
But like, just kind of, I like to stay.
Or like when you go in an elevator,
do you take your sleeve and press the button
with your sleeve?
No, it's not that far, but I also like,
would do that now that you mentioned it,
I'm going to start doing it tomorrow.
Wait, what about bare feet on a hotel floor?
That's Jason's.
I can do that, but also more.
I'm sicker than you are.
I said to Jason, we were just on vacation,
and he was like, of course, every time you sit down
to eat with Jason, he sits down, he orders,
and then he gets up, and he leaves, and he comes back,
and he's holding his hands like he's going into surgery,
like a surgeon does.
I wash them.
I'm ready to eat.
And then he says, oh, did you sit there,
you got your hand, and I go, is everybody else here,
and there were like 20 of us,
I go, is everybody else falling down on the ground sick?
Is everybody got it?
Do we all get infected?
You might, yeah, you might.
Today you might.
Yeah, that is a scary thing to me
with all of the travel and all of the meeting.
Yeah, it's a lot.
Now, speaking of masks, I bet you really enjoy the anonymity of walking around with a mask
and you can get away with it now because masks are so sort of ubiquitous, right?
Yeah, so are you, have you taken like a big risk with a mask lately?
Like have you done like the, like gone to Disneyland with a mask on?
Yeah, or murder.
Cause you could walk into a really, a really huge public place that you probably otherwise wouldn't
be able to get through.
Wait, do you want to know my secret?
I do it all the fucking time.
I literally walk around for hours and hours and hours whenever I'm off.
That was my next part of my schedule that I was going to tell you on my off day.
I meander and I shop and I walk and I go and I go to the movie theater and I see movies
and I wear like a little hood and a cap and I'm just like I have to be able to like otherwise I'll
fall apart. I really love it. And then also, also like I really do enjoy meeting people.
So like, you know, it's fine. And I love it. Like it's like really nice. I met the cutest,
the cutest waiter the other day. He was so sweet and he had a little tattoo, a little
sweetener tattoo. It was like made my day. He was so sweet and he had a little tattoo, a little sweetener tattoo.
It was like made my day.
I love meeting people but I...
So did you pull the mask down and go, hi?
Oh, I didn't have a mask on that day.
Oh, oh, oh.
But no, he was just like, but I do love...
But do you give people that treat like you're in a store
and like they're helping you?
You're like, oh, this person is cute.
Pull the mask down, give them a little treat.
Like, look who it is.
And they're like, oh my God.
Well, first of all, I don't always have a mask on. I just mean like if I'm like, look who it is, and they're like, oh my God! Well, first of all, I don't always have a mask on.
I just mean like if I'm like, you know,
meandering around Broadway.
Yeah, yeah.
It's the best, I'm here now, and I was walking around,
I went and got coffee, and they asked me to put a mask on.
Oh no.
Yeah, yeah, they said, cover it.
They didn't want to see you.
You're so silly.
It's so true.
All right, so then what's next on the dream board for acting?
Wait, I never got to tell you my thing about the masks.
Do it.
This is like, when I said, this was the butt,
I've always loved masks.
I think they are so cute and I used to sell them
as merch on my tour with a little moon on them
because it was a cute thing that me and my fans always wore
and it was a cute thing and it was a fans like always wore and it was like a cute thing
and it was like a fashion thing, we liked it.
And then when the pandemic happened,
all of my fans were like, we are prepared.
We have plenty of these.
We have moon masks.
Yes, thank you, sorry, that was what I was gonna say.
Good, I love that.
Next up is an acting thing or a music thing?
What do you think?
Or can you talk about it yet?
I would love to continue acting.
That is my, I feel so connected to it.
I really would love to find the right thing
that challenges me in a new way.
I love it so much.
I think it's, I love it for different reasons than music.
I mean, it's just so nice to kind of take a break
from playing yourself.
Like a caricaturized version of yourself
that isn't really yourself, but it kind of is
because parts of it are in the songs.
So it's just a confusing little thing.
And I think what a like cool thing it is
to find characters that you can kind of jump into.
Right, which are other parts of yourself,
the other reaches, yeah?
Yeah, I suppose.
I mean, you can heal little parts of yourself
through them and with them and for them
that you didn't know needed to be looked at
because when you're finding commonality.
In comedy versus drama, do you lean one way
or the other, do you think?
I love both.
I think Glinda had,, you know, Glinda had a,
the biggest gift of Glinda is that there's a little bit
of both, you know, especially with, you know, part two,
you get to see more of her and get to know more of her,
and she goes through a little bit more,
but, you know, it's, the combination is really special.
I think I love roles that have room for all of it.
And that's what I love so much about her
is that the comedy plays so well
because it's just truth and underneath it
is a very real person with very real insecurities
and fears and things and it just gets to live there.
So hopefully both, and if I'm lucky, both in one.
You know?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think it's, Sean, you've always,
I have always thought that you should try comedy.
Yeah, truly.
Because you know what I mean?
Yeah, give it a shot, buddy.
Yeah, you should.
I'm going to really, well, you know what?
Thank you for the push.
Thank you for the push.
Yeah, you can take an improv class or something
just to sort of see if it's for you. That would be a really good exercise for you, actually. Well, should we you know what? Thank you for the push. Thank you for the push. Yeah. I was thinking improv class or something,
just to sort of see if it's for you.
That would be a really good exercise for you, actually.
Well, should we do one now?
Give me a place.
Let's do one now.
Give me a place, and uh.
Let's do one.
Um, what about, what about, what about the,
what about the music videos?
Sean just did it, and I'm sorry, go ahead.
All right, Adam, do you love getting involved
with the music videos and the whole design of them,
and the concept of them them and the concept of them
and the shooting of it and all that or?
Yeah, I love the Yes and one.
Oh my God, so good. Oh, thank you.
I love that one. Thank you.
Yeah, I really feel like I found my like,
my like lifelong music video collaborator
in Christian Breslau,
or who I just started working with
for the Eternal Sunshine era.
He did Yes and, he did We Can't Be Friends,
he did The Boyz II, he did all of those things.
And not that you have any idea what those are,
but I just plan on continuing with him forever
when there's something to do.
It will be with him, I love him.
And I love it, it's so collaborative.
We speak the same language, we love all the same references.
Like we just kind of were destined to meet.
You know when you meet like a creative person
and you're like, where have you been my whole life?
And it's just kind of this cosmic collision.
But like, so when you're in the recording studio
and let's say you're not in the recording area,
whatever that's called, but you're back
where the board is with all the slidey things on it. Do you love sitting there and playing with those buttons?
The slidey things. I'm dying.
Or do you like being on a movie set and talking about lenses or the acting stuff, the shiny
stuff? Do you like both of those workplaces evenly?
Holy fuck.
Yes, I mean, well, I have different relationships to them both,
because I feel like with acting I love to just kind of be the character and go away.
Like I don't want to know what the playback looks like.
I don't want to know or be aware of what my face is doing
or my body is doing, I just want it to happen
and then hopefully it'll make sense later.
Which is a huge risk, I realize I'm saying that,
but also I just don't want to be aware of it
because I just want to be honest
and then if I'm judging what I look like or whatever,
I won't have the ability to just be a character.
And that's my own thing in my head.
But with vocal producing, I'm like, it's my own thing in my head. But with vocal producing, I'm like,
it's my favorite thing in the world.
So yes, the slidey thingies, of course.
It's my number one favorite thing to do,
even more so than singing, is vocal production
and comping vocals and staffing and vocal arranging.
I'm like a huge nerd in that way.
So what about taking on a young performer and producing that performer and making he
or she, you know, really sore?
Love being able to vocal produce.
Literally like that is just a dream.
Like if someone calls me and is like, I want you to record me.
I absolutely have done it, will do it, love it, will take that call any day.
I got to actually, wait, I have a fun story.
I got to vocal produce some of the Wicked soundtrack.
I got to vocal produce Cynthia and some of my stuff too.
So that was really cool and such a treat.
And to anyone who questions the live element of the vocals
in Defying Gravity in that second verse
when she's going up the stairs in Defying Gravity,
if you solo that vocal,
you can hear her little boots on the stairs.
And yeah.
Oh wow, that's amazing.
Yeah, it's so cool that you guys sing it live.
It's crazy.
Yeah, Heaven on Earth is being able to sift through
a bunch of Cynthia Arrivo vocal takes.
You know what I mean?
Because it's not about finding the good one.
It's about finding which perfect, amazing one
is the choice that you.
Did you hear that thing that was going around for a while
that on New Year's Eve, if you started watching the movie
at a certain time, by midnight, you would hit the whoa!
Yes, I saw several videos of that.
Yeah.
I read that well, right, on the website?
I saw that too.
Yeah, came up on your feed.
I was about to,
and Sean cut me off and took my fucking,
remember what the New Year is,
and I was like, write it, he was like, whoa!
And I was like, fuck yeah.
Why'd you miss it?
Why'd you miss out?
You missed out, you missed out.
No!
Wait, so Arianna, I don't know why I'm remembering this,
but one of the cutest, greatest things you ever did,
this is 10 years ago, around 10 years ago,
we were doing Hairspray Live,
we were sitting there in the makeup trailer,
and you said to me,
and you said, just a little off the top.
Just a little off the top.
Just tease up the top a little bit more.
I'm so scared.
No, no, you turned to me and you said,
hey, there's just a few of us going over to my house
after later on tonight, we're going to get totally wasted
and sleep over, wait, and then sleep over
and in the morning my mom's going to make us pancakes.
And I-
Did I say that?
Yes, and that was so sweet, you invited me
and I turned to you and I go, Ariana?
You said, yeah, I go, I'm 45 years old.
That is absolutely crazy.
That is so sweet though, it was so sweet.
You said, I'm 45 years old, I'll see you for the pancakes.
Oh yes.
I can't believe that that's how I would have ever said anything ever. And I actually do remember that cast party.
That was like so funny.
And I remember like, yeah.
Can you believe that was almost 10 years ago?
Isn't that wild?
It was a long time ago.
And I just wanted to bring up that your boyfriend is a very good friend of mine.
Yes, he loves you so much.
I love him too, Ethan Slater. He's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your life.
He did Good Night Oscar with me in Chicago.
And then he was in Wicked.
And now you guys are dating and I love that because you guys make a perfect couple.
Thank you, he's amazing and he loves you.
What part did he play?
He was the PA guy with the, you know.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
But Ariana, next time you're on or whenever,
I want to hear a horrible theater story gone wrong
in 13 or some other theater show
because of my favorite stories.
I have a thousand of them.
I have some.
Yeah, tell me one.
We've got time for one.
We got two.
Then we're going to let you go.
No, that's totally fine. I realize you all probably have like a heart out of like right now. Yeah, tell me one. We've got time for one. We've got two. Then we're going to let you go. Yeah.
No, that's totally fine.
I realize you all probably have like a heart out of like right now.
No, no, no.
You do.
I want to hear it.
I feel like I'm having tea with the dames and I'm in heaven.
No, no, no.
It's yours.
So I was, so my best friend, Aaron Simon Gross, who I actually grew up in Boca with and he
and I auditioned for 13 on the same day together and we both got cast, which just like never happens crazy.
He was playing Archie, which was the character in the show,
and he has these spontaneous nosebleeds
that are just really flocking.
Oh cool.
Yeah, but it's the kind from a scary movie.
It's not good.
The guys are, oh wow.
Yeah, it's really, it's aggressive.
And it's not the kind of thing that is like.
Aggressive nosebleeds.
Yeah, you know when you see something
and it takes you out of body for a second.
Because you're not supposed to be happening at all.
So he's in the wings waiting for his entrance
and we used to have this cute moment
in the opening number where I was on stage
and I'd be like, I would sing one of the lines into the wings waiting for his entrance.
and I see him covered in blood. Just covered in blood.
And I was like, oh my God.
And he had to enter and get through his entire first scene.
Was he aware that he was bleeding?
Yeah, he was looking at me like he was,
had no idea what to do and also his character,
he was using crutches in the role
and he couldn't wipe himself.
What, did the audience gasp?
Yeah, they were like, huh!
And then when they realized it wasn't a part of the plot at all,
that this just like blood covered man was entering and then he was singing,
and he's like singing and he's like, there's the cool kids, there's...
And he's like singing his first number, spitting blood onto Graham Phillips,
who was playing the lead role. It was just like the craziest thing and it never ended.
Did you try to help him out?
There was nothing to, how?
Yeah, yeah.
Just keep your distance, right?
I had to exit.
One time I was at the end of promises, promises, thank you.
I would.
We usually, no we'll create space
and put the applause in there.
We were coming out, me and Kristin Chenoweth
were coming out for our bows,
and we would do the same thing,
we'd be in the wings from opposite sides of the stage
and lock eyes before we'd come out
and meet at the middle to come downstage for our bow.
And one night, the audience is clapping,
everybody's taking their bows,
and where I'm supposed to see her,
she's on the ground, passed out with her feet
under the curtain like the wickedicked Witch of the West.
Not on the house.
Yes, and I was like, oh my God,
so I took my bow by myself.
People were like, what happened to,
the audience was like, where's, she did, she fainted.
No way. Oh no.
You know what the thing is?
This just reminded me, this is true story.
On Sunday, I was shooting this thing in California
and we were at lunch and there were a bunch of us
sitting around in the trailer and this
girl works in costumes, all of a sudden comes out of the bathroom and she's going like,
like waving her finger and Eli goes, you can't talk.
She goes, and she goes back and I go, you can't breathe.
And she goes, oh, and I've never done it before.
And I jumped up, I put my arms around her and I had three times and she barfed on my
hands and she got it out I put my arms around her, and I had three times and she barfed on my hands, and she got it out.
I've never done it before, but I was like,
I think this is what you do.
If you see something choking.
Did you have to do it aggressively?
Or did you have to like,
yeah, because you gotta get it out of there.
Well I guess we can't count on Eli.
He just was like, oh, and he just hit it.
Well he, and then when I grabbed her,
he ran out to get the paramedic,
and the paramedic came in and she was like,
I'm fine now, and I'm like covered in, threw up.
I'm like, she's fine now.
She was choking.
She was choking, yeah.
Oh my God, Will, that's, that's scary.
It was pretty wild.
I've never, I don't even know if I was really doing it right.
It worked, but I didn't know what I was doing,
and I thought like, oh shit, I should learn
how to do a proper handstand.
Yeah, you need to learn that and CPR.
Yeah, and CPR.
That's really, that's really scary.
And I've been asking people on the street here if they want to do a proper handstand and CPR. Yeah, and CPR. That's really scary. And I've been asking people on the street here
if they wanna do, practice CPR.
And all these dudes are like, no, and whatever.
But anyway.
Can I get your number?
I'll try later.
I'll let you try later.
Let me come over here, man.
It's time, it's time.
But isn't that crazy?
That is.
Yeah, that's a lot.
I didn't include that in coffee chat
at the top of the episode.
I forgot about it until we were just talking
about crazy things and I was like,
oh yeah, this just happened three days ago.
Well on that note, Arianna, we hope you don't choke.
Thanks for being here.
Thank you, holy fuck, thank you so much for having me.
I hope I don't ever have to save your life,
I guess is my point.
Oh my goodness.
We'll see you in six months in London.
Yes.
Continued great luck, You're the best.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for saying yes to this.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Continued success.
Love you all, thank you.
And love the Ethan too, please.
I will, love you guys, bye.
Thank you so much.
Bye, bye, bye.
That was Ariana Grande, the Ariana Grande.
A pure delight.
She's great.
She's so funny, man.
That's what I said, people don't know how funny she is.
Yeah, she's funny.
I mean, they do now, because Glinda was really funny.
I can't wait for people to discover how funny you are.
If you take that intro off class
and you get yourself an agent,
I bet you get a guest spot or two or three,
and then people are gonna say, hey.
Well, at the very least, I think you'll get an agent.
Yeah, hey guys, did you ever get this when you were younger?
Can you hook me up with your agent?
Right.
Can you get me?
Yeah.
No.
But yeah, I would love to see her do tons more acting.
Yeah.
I think that's what's gonna happen.
I think she's gonna do a straight acting gig will be next.
Yeah, for sure.
Is my prediction.
Yep, yep, and she's gonna kill it.
And she's just starting, right?
She's 30, 31, something like that.
Yeah, kind of amazing.
With all of that success already.
But has a great head on her shoulders clearly
and seems well suited for all that's a coming.
Yeah, and you know what a great musical that she-
Oh, hang on a second, Sean.
Oh, hang on, Sean.
Sean, do you want to cut in with something
because you're ready to get on it
and to get on the bike?
He's got a great one.
I just thought maybe like a...
Have you ever heard the expression,
like smell the roses or just fucking just exist
and not act out in the moment
to get stuff done as quickly as possible?
I thought that you were setting up a bike. Yeah, shut the hell up, Will. No, I thought that you were saying if I get a bye. I thought I was gonna do a bye.
Yeah, yeah, shut the hell up, Will.
No, I'm teaching you a lesson.
Shut, thank you.
Shut, shut up.
You say shut up, Will.
What do you got?
I was gonna say what?
Here it comes.
A musical that I'd really like to see her in.
Bye Bye, Birdie.
Yes, you motherfucker!
Sorry, I meant to say bye bye, Birdie!
Bye, bye, Birdie!
Bye! There's something about your face, and hopefully to say, bye, bye, Bernie. Bye.
There's something about your face, and hopefully we're still
recording, there's something about your face when you go,
yeah, and I'm like, OK, here we go.
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