Ariana Grande and Adam Sandler sit down to discuss their films 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Jay Kelly.' They bond over their shared love of Bobby Boucher from 'The Waterboy,' a character that Grande once dressed up as on social media. The two also debate whether animals should be allowed to talk, recall the audition process for Wicked and tease the upcoming 'Focker in-Law.'
Watch all of this season's Actors on Actors conversations: • Actors on Actors - Film - 2026
Watch every Actors on Actors episode: • Actors on Actors | Variety
Join Variety to get access to members-only perks: / @variety
Subscribe to Variety on YouTube: / @variety Subscribe to Variety Events on YouTube: / @varietyevents
Real life. Should animals be talking more. I love you dressing up like the water. That was fantastic.
Did I do that? Okay, so I'm gonna say the name's wrong probably. That's okay. I always add above. I always say alpha bubba.
Hello. I'm Dave.
Love you. How are you? Love you. Good to see you. I'm so happy we're teamed up together. Me too.
I was so excited when I heard that we were doing this together. I almost passed out.
It was a it was a
thrill for the family. The family all jumped up and down that I get to spend time with you. Me too.
I sent a screaming voice note to my family group chat. I was so happy.
Do you remember the first time we met? Yes. On the Haunted Mansion. I had a wife, two children.
They saw you. They saw Mac. We got excited. We all were we had fun. That was a quite a night, right?
It was beautiful. It was quite a night. I remember us being like the stragglers that were the last to leave as well.
It was quite late. The Haunted Mansion. It was like 11 o'clock at night, right? Yes, and I was so excited.
There was no line. You guys just got off. Yeah. You got off the ride?
No, I think we were both heading into the ride.
We had just gotten off of the scary elevator that says, are these walls actually stretching? When it shows the hanging body,
I can't believe that. Yes, it's terrifying. The kids did not like that at the time. I know. They can handle it now.
I can't believe that Disney is okay.
They were pushing the envelope then. For Disney.
But that was a great night.
And I told you, but we took a picture with you that night.
And then when both kids got Bat Mitzvahed in the video, they showed the picture of you guys. I'm so honored.
I feel like I'm a part of the family. You are a hundred percent in there. Thank you. Well, you're a part of mine.
We love you. I love you too. I've grown up worshiping all of your movies. Thank you.
Thank you. And I'm gonna give you one more back. In the car, we crank a lot of Ariana. Thank you.
I mean, so many tunes. So many tunes. When I was leaving today, I said to the kids, what any tunes you want me to bring up?
They screamed like 50 different songs at me. That was very sweet. Thank you very much. Sorry for the cough. No, it's okay.
We were just discussing, um, Adam is recovering from a lingering cough.
Yes, a month of a little weird tick, but it's gonna go away after the interview. That's crazy.
I had the same thing though for half of the Wicked Press. I feel like I sounded like I was dying.
It's true. It was a little on the, you had a cold. I had a cold and a cough, but it didn't go away forever.
Are you stubborn with medicine like I am? Or are you like a straight into antibiotics person? I don't, I didn't do that.
You neither. I took NyQuil though, to sleep. My mom's like, honey, you have to take something. And I was like, I am. I'm taking buckwheat.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, beeswax, whatever it is.
My wife always hands me that stuff.
So, wait, can I talk about this movie? Yes. You are so incredible in Jay Kelly in this movie. Ron is so
heartbreaking. I cried five different times. You did? I did, thanks to you. I, I,
not like welled up and I was choked up, but tears falling out of the eyes, kind of crying. Yes, yes.
You're just so extraordinary in it. Thank you. Congratulations on that. I think I do too many movies.
I think you do just the right amount of movies. I think I do too many movies. You do work a lot.
See, Barbara tells me the truth. What happened last night? You can't have too much underwear. It all goes back to Noah Baumbach.
He wrote it. He kind of wanted it a certain way, told me what he was looking for.
And I just was just trying to make him happy. I love being Ron. I love being this character. But how did you find him?
It was written very well. It was written, every nuance was in there. Laura Dern helped pull out a lot of cool things.
And when I was with Clooney and I loved Clooney so much and playing Jay Kelly, it was very simple to want to take care of that guy.
Yeah, well, it was really beautiful. Thank you. I also thought it was really cool that Noah played the director in all the different flashbacks.
That was so cool. He looks good with the glasses. Yes, yes. I think Clooney talked him into doing that.
That's, I mean, that was so cool. I did write down the five separate times that I cried, if you wanted to hear. I'd like to hear.
Thank you. But again, just, I have to say, it was tears streaming, not like choked up and holding back.
I saw you crying in Wicked last night and I noticed it's a beautiful cry. So let me hear about that.
Thank you. That's so nice. And you had to cry a lot in Wicked. I did. I want to discuss that with you after this.
Well, here are all the times, the five different times you made me cry streaming out fully, like breakdown in this film.
The scene with Laura at the train station. Saying goodbye. Yes, that was, that was sad for all of us.
And it was, yeah, it's really hard to watch someone try not to cry.
For me, that's what breaks me the fastest, is watching someone be so restrained. In pain and try to hold back.
Yeah, and that was just really beautifully done. That's fantastic.
And when she walks away, there's a wide shot of you kind of like walking back to the train. I almost lost my ----.
I'm sorry. Oh, man. Maybe it was connecting to Bobby Boucher being alone on the field. Excuse me. Yes. I'm so sorry.
We have to talk about that too, because. I, I, I know the
Waterboy's got a connection to you. So maybe you were seeing some of that in there.
Maybe there was a little bit of a connection there, but no, but it's true.
All of your iconic,
comedic performances also have so much truth in them. And Waterboy is, is so gut-wrenching. I'm sorry.
Is that silly to say? I love the Waterboy too. I love you dressing up like the Waterboy. That was fantastic. Did I do that?
You did it, you did it in some, maybe a Halloween or something like that.
There's some picture of you respecting Bobby and. I'm sorry. I love you for that. It was during the pandemic.
That's why I don't remember, because that whole trunk is gone for me. But wow. There was a lot going on there.
Okay, next part.
Was you reading the book on FaceTime to yourself? I love that too.
That was just beautifully written and very real and what you do when you're on the road. And performed. Thank you.
It's really beautiful. I'm sorry, I'm almost done. I'm gonna fly through these. When you said I'm the only one left.
Yes, that, that hurts. Hurts for George, yes. The reveal of you doing his makeup. That was sweet.
Two, two guys. I almost fell off the earth.
Really? I was gone, I was gone. It was hideous.
It was hideous. I was blowing my nose a lot. It was that level of crying. I love this. And just watching you watch the tribute.
Yeah, that was painful. That was painful because we sat together.
Want to hear something great about that? Mm-hmm. Noah had a real orchestra there playing the real score of our movie and
we were watching it together for the first time and
George and I, we didn't know what Noah was gonna show.
And it was very effective and we watched it for the first time and the orchestra was playing. We didn't know.
We didn't know what we were gonna see. We knew we were gonna grab hands, but it was just kind of like a very
true
feeling of my god, I've known this guy a long time. I do know Clooney a long time. I've watched his career.
He rocked me knowing that my character was a part of his life and what he meant to me.
It was like we went through it together. It was really easy to feel it all. It's really beautiful. Thank you.
It's easy to feel it from here too. You're the best. I'm choked up talking to you about it like I was there.
I wasn't ******* there.
I had nothing to do with anything and I feel moved like I was there. You're tremendous too. You rocked me.
I watched your movie last night. I was with my family. We were in this room. We call the media room.
There's five TVs. I usually watch football in there. Oh, wow. Yes. What a change of pace.
We threw it off. We put the new Wicked on the big screen, the center screen.
Me, my wife, the two kids, a lot of talking throughout it, just commenting on how great you were, commenting on what the scenes meant, what being sister, like the love that.
OK, so I'm going to say the name's wrong, probably. That's OK.
I'll say Alphaba. I always add above. I always say Alphababa and the kids say you got it.
You got to not do that. But when you say a line about something about go to the sister and say the sister's hurt, use your sister.
Yeah, it's her sister. Yeah, that that one. Oh, you know, we talked about that a lot because the two girls love each other so much.
And then we'll talk about everything. But that movie rocked us. That rocked us. So many beautiful scenes.
You the last sequence was like six or seven shots where you had to be crying and feeling it.
And and so in your character and I don't get there with these crying.
How about you, Ariana? Is it a difficult moment from a director saying action and having to work up this?
That's what you're feeling. I'm definitely a crier in life. Yeah.
But I don't think that I am. It's as easy when it comes when you're performing it.
Of course, it's not like a trick. It's not a party trick. Yeah, sure.
For me, it was just kind of about making sure I had like an internal mapping of.
Yes. All of her root trauma wounds, you know, that are referenced so that I wasn't referencing my own pain because I'm not an actor who can do that.
Yeah, I kind of had to try to design her because when I start to think about love, do you want something?
Nope. Nope. Are you sure? Thank you. I love you. No, it's gone. I love you.
Double cough. If it's not, we can address it. Thank you. I'm good right now.
I got throat coat. You already gave me the no aspartame gum. I did.
I'm already motion a lot off you and I'm taking another. That was it.
If you need another serving of aspartame free gum or tea or anything. Thank you. Thank you.
I see. Yeah. So acknowledging the moments that feel adjacent in my life and Glinda's life before I got there felt really helpful so that I can acknowledge the connection and then throw it away.
And you have this written out notes, notes to on the, on the, you keep it in your trailer and the big notes, like color coding.
So you go to your own world, you look at the notes, you say, let's make sure we get all this across or you just studied it enough that it's there.
Yeah. I just tried to prepare so much like enough that it would be there waiting kind of that's awesome on the day.
So I could throw it away. And then on the day, just be like listening and which is literally just acting.
Yes. Yes. And how about you when it comes to these big moments and they're in a wide shot, you hit that moment, then they come in a little tighter.
You hit that moment. How are you with that? Having to get the same moment over and over. I have a tough time.
Well, it's daunting. Well, you don't have a tough time with it, of course, but you do beautifully, magnificently masterclass.
They put in the right take with me. You were just nailing it every every size, weren't you?
I highly doubt that. But that's very kind. I feel like you just have to forget every time they reset.
Yes. Different coverage. You kind of have to try to wipe your mind and not think about what you're about to do at all, because the anticipation, once you start to remember what's ahead, it ruins it.
So you can't go for a repeat. Yeah, you have to just let go of it in a way.
And then you can just be experiencing it for the first time again in 30 in an hour and whatever it is, you have to kind of try to take yourself out of it as much as you can.
Yeah. And then it can surprise you again, even though it's. Oh, my God.
But when it surprises you, are you like me where when you get a feeling where it's deep and you're going and you're in the character?
I hate to give this away about myself, but you say, holy cow, it's working right now.
You don't mess this up. I sometimes find myself talking to myself going, you're fully there right now, man.
You are in it. You're feeling it. And then I go, what are you doing? Get back to your scene.
Do you have any inner monologue like that? Yeah. I mean, it's such a mind game, isn't it?
Yes. It's so interesting. And I feel like it's always a relief.
Yes, that's it. It's a relief every time, even though we've trained so hard to do this and like we've done our homework.
And this is literally our jobs and we'll do it again. And we've done it every single time.
There's such a gratitude that comes with like, oh, we served the scene.
Yeah, we did the things that we were hoping to do. Yes, there is a great relief.
But I try to kind of let that go through any kind of awareness. Like I don't want to acknowledge anything when it's happening.
Yeah, I see you do that. Yeah, that's great. It's such a it's such an interesting mental game, though, isn't it?
I think I'm a person who I don't want to let down the crew that's working hard there.
So I'm like, OK, I'm getting it going good. These people aren't going to have to sit here and try to and have to wait on me getting to certain places.
And, OK, thank God that's happening. And then I don't want to let myself down because I got so excited about when I read the script and about these certain scenes.
Well, this better be as good as written because I don't want to blow what's written. I get that.
It's so beautiful to know that you still experience that, even though you have had such an iconic legacy of doing that beautifully every single time.
Man, thank you for saying that. Thank you. And I just I like watching you. I like the youth. I like seeing.
I mean, what a part to get. Right. Do you do you remember first landing this job and the feeling you had and what it meant to you?
Yes. I have never in my life felt anything like finally getting that call.
So what was it? Did you did you was that I'm sure you talked about it before, but I don't know. Did you audition?
Yes. I begged for an audition. I didn't really. They would have even considered seeing me. I really begged.
So and I heard it at first. Are you OK? Yeah. OK. I'm sorry. I am going to keep checking.
I am going to keep checking when I hear a tiny beginning. I was fighting it back.
But don't let it out. You're safe. Thank you for my Ariana. OK, good. Sorry, guys.
So the audition was actually and I had to beg them to let me audition because I didn't think they didn't.
They didn't want anyone that they knew to play. I see. I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I had to beg to be considered in the first place. Right. And the first audition was singing.
I actually sang both roles. I sang. Oh, Glinda, I sang No One Warns the Wicked and Popular.
And then I sing Defying Gravity and The Wizard and I. My goodness. I had to do each.
Holy. Twice. Really? Yes. You and a piano. Me and a piano.
And was a piano player in the room or was it a. Yes, he was in the room.
And it was that was the first one. And then I had a callback, which was just Glinda,
because I think they figured out when I walked in with my pink thermos and my pink sweatshirt and my pink everything.
When I was campaigning for. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That time had scenes and different songs.
They added Thank Goodness, which is my second movie. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yes.
Oh, thank goodness is a tremendous one. I mean, popular in my house was played a lot, a lot, a lot.
And Defying Gravity was played a lot. It was kind of like when the kids were like six and eight.
It was every ride, every every time we'd want to kind of calm them down.
We throw that on. Right. Oh, yeah. That was a lot, too.
Mm hmm. You know what else we listen to in the car a lot? If there's a price for.
Are you saying I'm in love from from Hercules? Yes.
You saying that we saw you sing that you put together every voice, every harmony.
Oh, my God. Another black like like another pandemic blackout spot.
You did it during the pandemic. No, you're right. It was the greatest.
We listen to that and watch that maybe 300 times. Oh, my gosh. Thank you.
You did every all your own harmonies. That song's the greatest song.
I love every song from Wicked. I love the muses and Hercules, I think, are honestly why I wanted to sing.
I'm not even kidding. Those muses are the best. That that one in particular is a knockout, ain't it?
It's a great score. Alan Menken. I mean, yes. Hello. Love that guy. Love that guy.
Yes. OK. All right. So back to you. Back to. Oh, yes.
And then there was a third callback, which was a chemistry read. OK.
Which I read with two different actresses and I was there for like three hours.
And then that was it. And I. So kind of like the old days of auditioning.
You're sitting in a room. They call you in. You're mixing partners.
And then you're just going, I think that went well or you're saying, did I just blow that?
What was the feeling? I remember leaving, feeling very grateful.
And I felt a little buzzy, like that feeling that we're talking about when I went, OK, I think I've done the best I can do.
That's good. And I feel very grateful for that. And I think that if it's not mine, that's OK.
It's not meant to be. And I know what I did. Yeah, that's good.
That's a that's not a guarantee. No, no. What a feeling.
Yeah, because there are so many times in life you walk out going, they didn't really see how I can do that.
Man, I messed that up. Right. And so you felt confidence.
That's good. May I ask, is it true that when you were at NYU, you were studying drama?
I studied acting there. Yes, yes.
I studied acting for four years at the Strasburg Institute and try and try to learn as much as I could while doing stand up at night.
Right. OK. Yes, yes, yes. That's so cool. That was really cool.
So it's the duality has always been such a big part of your life.
And yes, yes, I think I was more excited about comedy.
And I always in the back of my head was like, I would like to get a few dramas in there.
That would be interesting. But let me let me go after this comedy thing.
But I did have four years of of learning at NYU and kind of picking up things that stuck with me.
And always do your homework like you do. I do.
When I get a script, I certainly write down everything.
My character's thinking, everything he's been through before, everything that he's worried about in the future.
I do my homework, but I don't know if I'm as good as you were bringing it up.
Honestly, honestly, I loved watching you last night.
I love watching how quiet the performance was and how real and how you felt that.
And you were 100 percent the good witch. You were always the good witch.
It was never Ariana. I was just like, OK, this is the good witch.
This is how she's feeling. By the way, working with Goldblum, how funny was he?
I had a couple of times where I went. I bet Ariana was laughing in real life about how funny Goldblum is.
I mean, he's extraordinary. And it's really kind of interesting to watch him dance between the wizard and Jeff.
Yes, yes, yes. It's very seamless. It's very smooth.
It was his his rhythms are always so like, I don't know where it's where these pauses come from.
And I just I saw this one cutaway of you.
You guys were supposed to be happy as hell together.
Yes. And I watch you laugh and you witches were watching, watching.
And I was like, I felt like a legitimate good time.
Yeah, it was it was crazy to watch him.
Also, he has such an amazing ability to kind of take himself outside of what's ahead of him.
Like as far as the scene and stuff like in between.
He has such a gorgeous process. I think I might be speaking completely out of turn.
I have no idea, but I just love how he is constantly taking his mind somewhere else.
Yeah, that makes sense. Right before action.
That can help. And then we'll roll right into the scene.
That's really. Yes. Dustin Hoffman does that before a scene starts is talking, talking, talking to you in character, talking about things.
So when the scene starts, it's not action line.
It's like you're building up to that first line. It's interesting.
Pretty cool move. Yeah. I find that it's so cool to learn each other's processes.
Yes. It's nice to steal a few, too. Yeah, it's nice to watch somebody great and go, oh, ----, I never thought of that.
Well, you and Clooney are so incredible together.
Thank you. Have you two sort of gifted each other with little pieces of each other's process?
I watched him. I watched Clooney. I did learn from him.
He's similar to what you were saying about Goldblum.
He gets stuff going and can land right in there.
And then there's he also was very focused before it takes and just you don't.
Again, I'm the same way you say I'm giving this part.
I'm giving this take. If they say we're going to do another take, you're like, let's not waste this, man.
Let's just concentrate. Think I just did this. I just did that.
Maybe there's other ways to explore. That's exciting stuff.
And yeah, Clooney, he completely scenes where I was locked in with him and we're talking, we're eye to eye.
I love them so much. It was just so calm. We got really close.
Like I'm sure you and Cynthia got to a place where you felt like sisters.
You felt as comfortable as it gets. So you like I with Clooney, when I'm comfortable, when I'm comfortable on a set,
I'm going to do a lot better than when I'm with somebody that I'm unsure with.
Isn't that the greatest gift to feel really comfortable with all of the collaborators?
Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's not always a guarantee either.
That's like, oh, that that can go south.
And when that goes south, you're walking to to do your scene with other ---- on your mind.
And then you go, well, I got to blow that all off. But what a nice thing to not have anything.
Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. I mean, your connection together.
And it was just it was so beautiful to watch. Thank you. I love them. I love them.
How'd you get the black guy? I'll tell you on the plane. What plane?
The plane that I booked. We're leaving at one. Where are we going?
How long was the shoot for both these movies?
Well, I mean, the whole adventure in total was, you know, we're sitting here.
It's, you know, what is it, November 2025? Yes.
So five years. What do you mean?
Because our auditions and the prep for the first audition was three months for me.
I trained every day. That's so funny. It was a long journey.
So you trained with the vocals and the songs?
Yeah. So I. Glinda has a very operatic voice.
Yes. Yes. There was a lot of retraining my voice.
And also I hadn't acted in a really long time. Right. Right. Right.
So I just wanted to work on my technique and figure out what would work for me.
With a teacher. Yes. My teacher, Nancy Banks.
She's Nancy Banks. Awesome. She's a healer more than anything.
So it just keeps your brain calm and focused on the right stuff.
I mean, yeah, but also just sort of figuring out what technique might work for me with this project.
I see. I hadn't explored in a while.
And so we just started with random plays and just expressing and rehearsing different things,
trying different things, figuring out what worked for me. So cool.
For Glinda. And it was a really amazing process.
And then we were cast and we started pre-pro and rehearsals.
And then the filming happened and then there was a strike in the middle.
Wow. Right. Yes. So you. But you kept up the studying throughout the strike.
Yes, it was. And then when we got back, everything just felt right where we left off.
It was. It was special. You guys were shooting everything at all times.
Yes. At the same time. One day you're shooting the first movie.
Day seven, all of a sudden you're shooting a scene from the second one. Was it like that?
Yeah. Wow. And it was funny because it was very spontaneous.
Our whole crew was so incredible and, you know, prepared and responsive and collaborative and warm and whatever.
But if there were a rainy day where we were supposed to be outside in Munchkin land,
we would all of a sudden be inside Kiyomiko shooting for good. Wow.
So we shot for good on a random day. Yes. When we were not expecting to.
Showstopper. For good. Thank you. Yes. Which I love. I love the spontaneity of that.
That's pretty great. Yes. A random day. So you don't have time to. Overthink.
Yeah. Or get nervous. That's good. We get to leave it all behind. Do you need a lozenge? Is it time?
Feeling better. I've been dying to ask you about this. OK, so. Please.
Puppy. Puppy, yeah. Scripted? Yes. Or improv?
It was written. OK. Noah Baumbach had me call him Puppy.
That's the sweetest thing in the entire world. It's such a nice word to say over and over.
I called Jay Kelly Puppy. I called Ben Alcock Puppy. I called my kids Puppy.
It was fun to say. I was nervous when I read it. I was like. Really?
Am I going to make Puppy or am I going to be corny with Puppy? Oh, it felt so.
Felt nice. Gorgeous. And just. Very sweet. Authentic. I loved it.
I thought you made it up. I say Bubby a lot. Bubby. In real life.
I call my kids Bubby. I call my wife Bubby. I do.
So I kind of eliminated Bubby and threw Puppy in there.
No, don't cry. You're crying, Puppy.
No, I know, but it doesn't mean you have to cry. OK, you cry, Puppy. You will cry first.
Truly, you've been able to kind of have room for both these incredible dramatic roles
and also some of the most iconic comedic roles of all time ever in the history of the world.
One of them that really has both, I think, is Bobby Boucher. Yes.
I know that sounds crazy, but he makes me cry. I heard that.
My children show me you discussing Bobby.
And it was it meant a lot to me because. I love Bobby.
I love him so much. I love being that guy. I love feeling what Bobby felt.
An outsider and just just wanting to feel calm and feeling safe with Mama.
Also a little nervous with Mama. Yeah, I love that it connected with you.
Thank you. Thank you. It's really beautiful.
And you do such a magnificent job of, like, grounding your comedy and just like humanness that is so disarming.
You will. It's really beautiful. It was very easy. Vicki Valancourt made life easy.
Oh, my gosh. I love her too. She's a good lady.
If they're ever redoing Bobby Boucher, I don't know who's going to.
They should never. Maybe Stiller can play Bobby and you're Vicki Valancourt. That'd be fun.
Oh, my goodness. No, leave perfect things as they are, you know.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Are you sure you don't want a lozenger?
I'm feeling better. That has turned into like a nervous tic.
But I do feel the lungs kind of collapse and I go, don't do it.
And I go, yeah. Do you have an inhaler or something?
No. Maybe that's next. Maybe I have asthma and I don't know.
No, but sometimes the lingering cough can just be like an asthma.
I know. And they can just be. It's the way I'm sitting.
If we were standing, I went to court one time. Do you want to stand?
No, no. I like it like this. We can stand.
No. Ariana, thanks for looking out for me. All right. No worries.
Speaking of perfect, you got to meet from behind because we never saw Dorothy.
Oh, yes. Did you, between takes, try to get information?
Oh, yes. She was lovely. Very lovely. A very lovely person.
So you saw her face. I never did. I saw her face.
And what a treat. What did it look like? Beautiful.
It was fantastic? She was beautiful.
Did you address her as Dorothy or how did you speak to this?
No, I don't know if I'm allowed to say who it is.
Yeah, don't tell me. Don't tell anyone. I'm sure she'll be in the credits.
But she was a lovely, amazing performer and she's a dancer and she's wonderful.
The shoes. She got the shoes.
Oh, yes. She got the shoes. I love that shot where they're taking her away
and it's Dorothy's point of view of the shoes kicking.
Yes, yes. That's a great shot.
But I love John's take on kind of preserving the Wizard of Oz
and letting it be like its own thing.
The Tin Man shocked me.
Wasn't that so exciting?
I never thought of that in my life that had this happen to this man.
Had you not seen Wicked on stage?
I did, but I forgot.
I saw Wicked maybe five times and I still forgot.
Saw it in New York. Saw it out here. Saw it when it's on the road.
Isn't it a thrill?
But the film version of the noises that were going on back there
and the pings and the pangs and then also the reveal of the man
being the Tin Man and what he looked at and the horror on his face
when he looked in the mirror. I never thought of that in my life.
That was a painful moment.
It's a very painful moment and it's performed beautifully.
Unbelievable.
Both of them are so amazing.
Yes, yes.
But it's also just so important to see these sort of humanizing moments
for these villains, these terrible people.
That's the beautiful thing about Wicked is it kind of shows
how perpetrators of evil were once victims themselves.
How someone with such a pure heart can lose their heart entirely.
Never thought of that back story ever.
My whole childhood and now that's all I think about.
Even though he's not necessarily evil in The Wizard of Oz.
He is in Wicked.
He's in pain though.
You see where the pain came from and how about that he was so in love
with you, with the good witch and he was being held back.
Heartbreaking.
You can't live like that in real life.
No, but I also love the exchange that the Tin Man and Glinda share
that sort of propels her into Girl in the Bubble.
It's a cool exchange.
Absolutely, yes, yes, yes.
Energy in a way.
What about you marrying somebody?
I don't know if you want to be married to this.
He's possibly, he's thinking of...
To Fiyero, yeah.
A good friend of yours.
That was a heartbreaking moment for all of you.
I'm worried for her too.
I miss her.
Can't you see?
She doesn't want to be found.
Yeah, it's tough.
It's really, really relentless.
It's relentless.
You know what I really love?
When he said he was sorry to you.
Me too.
That gets me.
Jonathan Bailey, in the whole film, he's so extraordinary.
Yes, yes.
But that moment in particular.
Well, such a gentleman to say that.
Like he knows it broke your heart and he knows how much pain you're in.
He has to follow the truth.
And he's like...
And yet he didn't have the tools to do it sooner or differently.
Right, right, right.
Because he, just like Glinda, has lived his whole life under the
impression of, I have to please everyone else.
I'm supposed to do this.
Self-abandoning for the sake of others.
Yes, yes.
And he learns too late.
And Glinda knows that.
There's like an immediate forgiveness.
Yes, yes.
That they exchanged.
You did, yes.
That was beautiful.
And Elphaba too.
Yeah.
The three of them in that scene are all given an opportunity to
turn the other way.
But you do zinger.
You zinger.
You give her a zinger a little later in the movie when, you know,
this is mine and you're like, yeah, something.
We do slap each other.
You slapped her back.
So it was still hurting a little bit.
It felt great.
She deserved it.
I was on your side the whole time.
Let her know.
Oh, man.
Let her know.
You know, you know.
Your pain.
I think they've both done wrong.
They've both done wrong, yeah.
And they're both very validated in that moment.
I can't bear this anymore.
I'm taking you to see the wizard.
Absolutely not.
Yes.
No.
Elphaba.
Was, ultimately, ends up with the true love.
Yeah.
And Glinda's starting from the ground up.
As she should.
As she deserves to.
Because she has some wrongs to right.
What about down the line?
The Tin Man?
And Glinda?
Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
I don't know, man.
It seems right.
It seems like there's an honest affection.
There's hope there.
Yes.
Who knows?
I know.
I'm crying.
Can I discuss one other thing that was on my mind?
Sure, sure.
Just an instinct.
I don't know if viewers want to know this.
You wore a dress.
Stunning dress in the movie.
You wore it a lot.
Right?
What do we call that dress?
A gown?
What do I call that?
Well, we called it Bubble Two.
Bubble Two.
The lavender one that I'm always in.
You're in that a lot.
Forever in this film.
Is it every scene?
I think she just loves it.
It's most scenes.
Okay, so you have it on.
They call lunch.
What do you do?
Do we get out of that thing or we sit in it?
I perch on a little apple box.
It goes under the hoop skirt, under the bubble skirt,
and I just perch on a little apple box.
And it's comfortable enough to do that?
Yeah, it actually was.
Bubble Two had a lot of flexibility.
A lot of give?
Yeah, a lot of give.
It looks tight in the shoulders.
I did have little scratches here.
You get the scratch.
Yes, I got the scratches, but I didn't mind.
It was worth it.
It's for the craft.
Yes, anything for the craft, I was going to say.
I love coming home with an unexplained bruise or scratch.
Yeah, I understood.
You're the same way, I would imagine.
Well, I've done a lot of movies.
I've come home with massive bruises, massive.
When I did my first movie with Noah Baumbach,
I did a movie called The Meyerowitz Stories
with our mutual friend Ben Stiller.
We got in a fight in that movie for the actual movie,
rolling around.
I had a bruise.
I think it was here to here or here to here.
Oh, yeah, it was here to here, an entire bicep of a bruise
that lasted maybe two weeks.
Because you two were just so in it.
We were so in it, and he took it very seriously.
I think he wanted to kick my ass.
I was going, aren't we doing movie acting right now?
But then I'd see crazy eyes on him.
Ben wants to win this.
Yeah.
I think he did.
I think I gave it to him.
But that's very rewarding, though, in that moment
when you two are fighting.
Yes.
Ignoring the fight coordinator.
Was this just like all of the ebony out the window?
It was kind of like, you'll be rolling around here.
The fight coordinator got ignored.
The safety.
I mean, Stiller blocked that out, apparently.
Bruised me up good.
And then by take four, I kind of quietly walked over to Noah.
I said, I think I'm a little bit hurt, man.
Let's just move on.
If you need one more, I got you.
And then he was like, what?
He didn't believe I was hurt.
And then I sent him a picture that night of my bruise.
Of the bruise.
I said, look what you've done to me.
Oh, my goodness.
Now, in real life, I just want you to know, Ariana,
if Stiller was to bring that energy in real life,
I would choke him out immediately.
But my character and my professionalism
allowed him to whoop me.
Right.
Anything for the scene.
And I was proud of that.
I'm proud of that as well for you.
Thank you.
Now, what was it like with Stiller?
You got to know this man as well as I do.
Recently.
He's a hardcore.
He wants the best every day, every scene.
He's amazing.
I loved working with him.
What is the relationship?
Are you a daughter-in-law?
What is it?
Well.
Are we allowed to talk about that?
Yes, but I was going to say, funny enough,
I also got a bruise.
From him?
From myself.
But from him.
But from something I was doing.
What did you do?
And I also had a bruise from here, from here,
from Ben Stiller's body.
See, he doesn't think it through.
No, it was my fault, actually.
I own it.
I'll explain to you off camera what's happening,
but it's totally my fault.
I was the one, I was perpetrating.
And so this was take one, two?
Oh, man, all of them.
All of them?
You don't feel it when you're in the room.
The adrenaline gets you past the bruise.
But yes, I just worked with him on Focker-in-Law.
I play his son's girlfriend.
I love that.
Who he doesn't.
He's not connecting with?
He's not sure of you?
No, he's not.
What do you do?
He's very against me.
He's protective over his puppy.
Yes, he's protective over his puppy.
And the worst part, his nightmare,
is I get along gorgeously with Jack.
Jack loves me and wants to invite me.
I'm Mr. De Niro's character.
I see.
I love that.
So immediate approval from just the whole rest of the family,
and he and I are kind of just not clicking at all.
Is there a reason he's holding back?
Is there, we'll never, we have to see the movie.
Yes, he has reason, but I don't think that she deserves the judgment.
He goes too overboard, in real life too.
He judges every text I send him, I'm being judged.
It's a long dot, dot, dot, and I'm like,
what's he mad at this time?
And then he goes, okay, man, you got it.
Really?
No, he's a gentleman.
He's a gentleman.
I love him more than anything.
Yeah, and I love watching him toggle back and forth
between the side of his brain that is
just trying to be the actor in the scene
and also is like thinking through the director lens as well,
while also being so incredible with John Hamburg, our director,
and being like incredible collaborators.
Yes.
And John is amazing.
Habits still are laughing.
Yes.
He can laugh.
He can break sometimes.
He breaks and laughs his ass off.
But it's hard to break him.
But when he does, it's quite rewarding.
It does feel good when he breaks.
Yeah.
And then it feels great even when you're,
before shooting a shot and you're saying things
and you're talking and he laughs,
you just go, man, he's got a sweet laugh.
Yeah.
What a nice dude.
It's very rewarding.
You got to know his whole family and they did the best.
Yes, everyone is lovely.
Yes.
And Ella did our table read.
She did.
Who's very wonderful.
She's a fantastic actress, as is Quinn, the boy.
He's the only one I haven't met yet.
Quinn is a sweetheart.
He's friends with my daughter.
They both went to college at the same time
and they both are very cool people.
What a small world.
Very small world.
Will you be in New York at the end of this month?
Yes.
Will you be going to his birthday?
Stiller's party.
Yeah.
He's turning 60.
Yeah.
We're all going that night.
Oh, great.
Yeah, I'll see you all there.
Are you getting him a gift?
Can I get in on yours, whatever you get him?
Yeah, let's think about it together.
Thank you.
I have to brainstorm.
I have to think of it.
My wife will get the gift
and I always get to get my name on that card.
That's the best thing.
Maybe your memory is trying to tell you
something about your present.
Like what?
I don't know.
I'm tired.
This is so important.
In J. Kelly, obviously, there's so much commentary
on the fame isolation and the balance
between work and family.
And one of the lines that really hit me
was when the acting teacher says to him,
now you got to act twice,
once when you play the part
and once when you play yourself.
I love that line, too.
That really got me.
But I wanted to say, as someone who seems to,
from afar, seems to balance
all of the things that J. Kelly struggles with
so beautifully, you in real life
seem to have such an amazing grip on reality
and on that balance.
What do you credit that to?
I credit that upbringing, I'm sure.
True love.
I love my wife, love my kids more than anything.
They are on my mind all day long.
I like being with them.
Just like you.
I've met you a bunch of times.
You're always inclusive with your family.
I've seen Mama a lot.
Yes.
She's cool as hell.
I love Grandma.
By the way, I've told you,
but when Grandma's on the bloodlines track,
and whatever she says up top,
we laugh our asses off.
Thank you.
Grandma's funny as hell.
Thank you.
You're tight with Grandma, huh?
Yes, yes.
Yes.
I love her.
And it's something about being satisfied.
It's very cute.
But just like you, man,
we know what's important.
We all...
Our careers are great.
We love it.
We love getting to do it.
This is a dream.
If something's off at home,
it's hard to concentrate on the dream.
So it's nice to always have that around
or just be in contact
with the true love of your life.
That's beautiful.
Yes.
This might be random.
Animals.
Are you okay?
Animals.
We're almost there.
Ariana, stay with me.
Almost there.
Animals.
The voice.
Holding them back.
Right.
Not allowing them to speak.
Mm-hmm.
Real life.
Should animals be talking more?
Should we have...
This is just...
Everybody's thinking it,
and I want to ask you your take on it.
I think that...
I think they are talking.
They are talking.
I think we're not listening enough.
There it is.
100%.
Don't you think?
Well, there's a reason they're looking at you.
Like, did you hear what I said?
If you really look...
Yes.
...and you really listen...
Yes.
...they are telling you everything.
Through it all.
There's...
It's true.
If you quiet yourself down for a minute
and not just worry about yourself...
It's all right there.
Thank you.
It's right there.
I'm not kidding.
This could be the closer of the piece, guys.
I can't tell if it's a bit or not,
but this answer is really real.
I think it's real, too.
I just felt it with my dog this morning.
Speaking to you.
Spoken.
Gave me a look.
Also kind of like was like...
Verbalized.
It's 9.30.
Mm-hmm.
I haven't been let out yet.
Let me out.
What's the matter with you, man?
Exactly.
Do you want an accident?
Do you want this?
Or do you not?
Yes.
And I said,
I appreciate you waiting,
and you're a good man.
This will never happen again.
See?
It's all right there.
We need to listen.
Myron.
Myron, yeah.
Thank you.
Myron, one of my dogs,
he eats much faster than Toulouse,
my littler.
Right, right, right.
And he always wants to have Toulouse's leftovers.
Yeah, yeah.
You have to separate.
So he has learned to...
And this is...
I didn't teach him this.
He just did this from listening
and receiving the information.
You know, noticing Toulouse's feelings.
He will wait
until Toulouse is halfway done with his meal.
He can.
Nice.
To begin his meal.
And then when Toulouse is done and walks away,
he looks at me and he looks at the bowl.
And you give...
There's any left in there?
And he's like,
he's on the verge of tears,
and he's like...
Just...
And I'm like,
it's okay, you can have it, babe.
It's okay, he's done.
They are speaking.
We just have to listen.
Yeah.
Adam Sandler and Ariana on dogs.
Thank you for coming.
Love everything about Myron and...
Toulouse.
And then there are a bunch of others,
but we don't have time.
We'll talk about it afterwards.
They seem a little connected
more than most dogs are.
They're respectful of each other.
They're very empathetic.
I think it just comes from being like
in a household of...
Of goodness.
Of, you know,
yeah, of watching Waterboy a lot.
Yeah.
The emotional connection.
For years.
It's palpable.
It is true.
I love you so much.
Love you.
That was great, Ariana.
This was really lovely.
I've been looking forward to this
for a long time and we did good.
Me too.
I'm so honored.
Love your movie.
I love you and your movie.
Congratulations on how deep you went
and how beautiful your performance was.
And to you.
I loved this movie so much.
Again, I cried so many times
at your performance.
It was really stunning.
And I'm so happy for you
and excited beyond.
You're so brilliant.
Congratulations to everyone involved
with your movie and to you.
You too.
Okay, I love you, buddy.
I love you.
That was really cool.