00:00I didn't ever think that I would be seen as a singer.
00:05I didn't, I hoped, you know, I hoped that people would let me do both
00:08or that I would be able to do both with my life.
00:11And at that time, it was just such an unfathomable thought.
00:15So it was really cool to hear like,
00:18oh my God, you're playing my song on the radio.
00:21Maybe I'll get to do both.
00:22Hi, I'm Ariana Grande, and we are here at my Hollywood Reporter cover shoot.
00:26And here are some of my Hollywood firsts.
00:31The first movie that made me want to make movies,
00:37I would say The Wizard of Oz is one of them
00:40because I just remember studying Judy Garland
00:43and being so in love with her performance.
00:46And then I fell totally in love with Jim Carrey.
00:50So I think about like The Truman Show and The Mask.
00:54He's just like this masterful comedian.
00:59He's one of one, but everything has so much depth
01:02and humanness beneath the surface.
01:04It's like hilarious, but also heartbreaking at the same time.
01:07And then I think about Best in Show.
01:09Those are my three.
01:11I think might have been for Annie at the Little Palm Family Theater.
01:15I was eight years old and I was very sick.
01:19I had bronchitis, but I really wanted to go.
01:22And I booked the role of Annie.
01:25And I remember I was so young.
01:27They had like a rule at the family theater
01:30that like parents had to drop everyone off
01:32and then pick them up after rehearsals.
01:33But my mom did not want to leave me at rehearsals.
01:35And so she actually auditioned as well
01:38and got a role in Annie.
01:40And she played the guy who sells the apples
01:42and one of Daddy Warbucks's housekeepers.
01:45And so she was able to stay at rehearsals with me
01:47because she auditioned to be in the show.
01:51My first red carpet was for Fantastic Mr. Fox,
01:54which I was not in at all.
01:56I had nothing to do with it, but they invited me
01:58and I was on Nickelodeon at the time.
01:59And I had my red hair and I had my little green mini dress.
02:02And I remember I felt really cute.
02:04I associate that specific shade of red
02:06with that character so much.
02:08So I love it.
02:10I love it for that.
02:12I started writing songs when I was really young,
02:14but the first one I wrote and recorded
02:16and was able to like actually have a copy of
02:19was called Let It Rain.
02:20And I was really young when I wrote it.
02:23I think it was 11 or 12 when I wrote it
02:25and then I recorded it the next year.
02:27I don't know, man.
02:28Let It Rain.
02:29Just what it will be, it will be.
02:31Those were the lyrics of what am I thinking?
02:33I was so young and so wise.
02:36I thought I was like Natasha Bedingfield
02:38slash Mary J. Blige.
02:39And I was 12.
02:42The first person that truly left me starstruck
02:45was Imogen Heap.
02:46I grew up worshiping her.
02:48She's the reason why I produce.
02:50She's the reason why I literally downloaded
02:52all the music softwares on my computer
02:53when I was 12 to start learning
02:56how to do things myself,
02:57how to comp vocals,
02:58my looping machine.
02:59Like everything I know about music production
03:01was because I idolized her.
03:03I thought I was being catfished
03:04the first time that I went to go meet her.
03:07And at some point I was like,
03:08hey mom, I think,
03:09I think it's a prank.
03:11And I think it's, you know,
03:13we watch a lot of true crime.
03:14I think we know what's coming.
03:16And this is the end.
03:17And then it wasn't.
03:18And she ends in and she's like,
03:19hello.
03:19And she answers at the door.
03:20And she's like, hello, come on in.
03:21These are the Nemo gloves.
03:22And it was perfectly wonderful.
03:25My first time hearing myself on the radio,
03:27I was actually driving to Nick on Sunset
03:30to film Sam and Cat.
03:31And I heard The Way.
03:33And I almost crashed my car.
03:36It was really exciting.
03:38And totally terrifying
03:41because I almost drove off the road.
03:42It was really an insane moment for me
03:46because A, I was getting ready to go to set
03:47for my real job at the time.
03:50And, you know,
03:51I didn't ever think that
03:53I would be seen as a singer.
03:56I didn't, I hoped, you know,
03:58I hoped that people would let me do both
04:00or that I would be able to do both
04:01with my life.
04:02And at that time,
04:05it was just such an unfathomable thought.
04:08So it was really cool to hear like,
04:10oh my God,
04:11they're playing my song on the radio.
04:12Maybe I'll get to do both.
04:15My first Wicked audition
04:16was August 13th, 2021.
04:19I like remember I had my little pink thermos.
04:23Just remember
04:23leaving it all in the room.
04:26I sang No One Warns the Wicked
04:27and I sang Popular.
04:29I sang both of them twice.
04:30And then I strangely sang,
04:33even though it was very clear
04:34that I was going in for Linda,
04:36I also sang The Wizard of Nine,
04:37Defying Gravity twice.
04:38So I was there for quite a while
04:40and I did a lot of singing.
04:41And even though I wasn't all pink,
04:43they had me sing both vocal tracks,
04:44which was really fun.
04:46And yeah,
04:48I just remember leaving buzzing.
04:53I sobbed.
04:55I absolutely sobbed.
04:58I had my face in my hands.
05:01I was just absolutely sobbing.
05:04It was really emotional.
05:06It's emotional to even talk about.
05:08It's very unfathomable
05:10because the greatest gift of my life
05:13was being able to do this work.
05:15Every single day,
05:16playing Galinda was more than a dream
05:21and more than enough.
05:22It's just the thing
05:24that I'm most grateful for
05:26in my life so far.
05:27So to have the work be celebrated
05:29and acknowledged in this way
05:30is not something you even think about
05:31when you're making it.
05:32You know,
05:32you don't even think about it at all.
05:34And then afterwards,
05:35you don't think about it either.
05:36I didn't know where I'd be right now.
05:37I thought I would be...
05:38I don't know.
05:39It's just...
05:40It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing
05:45and I don't think if I ever...
05:47I don't think I even let myself dream that far,
05:50to be honest.
05:51So, yeah,
05:53it's incredibly moving
05:54and extraordinary and insane.
05:56Oh, and then my therapist called
05:58and then my gynecologist called
06:00and I was like,
06:01oh my God, thank you.
06:03Can we celebrate over my next breast exam?
06:06Like, is everything okay?
06:07First of all, is everything good?
06:08And she was like,
06:09congratulations!
06:10And I was like, wow!
06:12That's it, right?
06:14There's a tonal shift
06:15when you go from being like
06:17on a kid's show
06:19as a character
06:20that people love
06:21and find approachable
06:22and silly
06:23and whatever
06:24to pop stardom.
06:26There's a very different thing
06:27that happens
06:28and I can't explain
06:30what's behind it
06:32or why, whatever.
06:33People sort of...
06:35It just becomes
06:36a little bit different.
06:37But I just remember feeling
06:38all of a sudden
06:40like, oh my goodness.
06:42Artists maybe are not
06:44like meant to deal...
06:46Like the same people
06:47who are destined to make art
06:49are the opposite kind of people
06:51who are meant to deal
06:53with what comes with it sometimes.
06:55Sometimes it can just be really
06:56a bit of a whirlwind
06:58and the music you're making
07:02whatever you're doing
07:03can come secondary
07:03to what they try
07:04to turn you into.
07:06So I think probably
07:06when I was 19 or something
07:08or 20
07:08I remember
07:10kind of having to stand up
07:13for myself quite often
07:14back then
07:14or at least stand up
07:16for my art too
07:16to just be like,
07:17hey, I'm here to sing.
07:18Like,
07:19what are these rumors about?
07:21Why is this happening?
07:22I'm just here to sing.
07:23And that was something
07:24I was experiencing
07:25at such a young age
07:27that it was so weird
07:28for me to adjust to.
07:30And I'm 31
07:30and I'm still
07:31it's still really hard
07:33when that feeling arises.
07:35I'm still learning
07:36and I'm still growing
07:36but I feel like
07:37I'm really proud
07:39of kind of how
07:39I've been able
07:40to navigate it
07:42and heal through it.
07:44I've been holding space
07:45since I was born
07:47I would say.
07:48I think I've
07:49I've always been
07:50an empath
07:50and a cancer
07:51and I've been
07:52I have been consistently
07:54holding space
07:55since my first breath.
07:57I want to take this moment
07:58to clarify something.
08:00There were many articles
08:01written about
08:01like what it means
08:02to hold space
08:03but it wasn't
08:04the holding space
08:05that was perplexing
08:07because I think
08:08I think holding space
08:10is something that
08:10you know
08:11I've actually been
08:12saying that phrase
08:12for quite a long time.
08:14It was the whiff.
08:15Thank you for letting me
08:16clear that up.
08:18Probably the same thing
08:19that my mom said to me
08:20which was just like
08:21you've got this.
08:24You know
08:24you can do
08:25absolutely anything.
08:26Be kind,
08:26work hard
08:27and
08:28tune out
08:31the noise.
08:38What was the way
08:40to stay
08:48taking care of
08:49how to do it?
08:50I think it was
08:51the opposite.
08:52I think it was
08:52the most disturbing
08:53all the time
08:53to catch up.
08:54What is it?
08:55What was it?
08:56I think it was
08:56aź¾øļæ½orf
08:57or one of the,
08:57each other
08:58that ===
08:58eyeing
08:59Unless
09:00one does
09:01squeeze
09:01using
09:02the third
09:03eyeing
09:04or
09:06eyeing
09:06dĆ³lares
Comments