Sabrina Carpenter Was Consistently Humbled Onstage During Her Short n’ Sweet Tour

Our first guest tonight is a two-time Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and actress. Her latest album, Man's Best Friend, was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Sabrina Carpenter, everybody. I'm very, very happy you're here. Congratulations on your Grammy nominations. Thank you so much. You go into that morning hopeful, but you probably don't expect six. What was your realization as they started coming in? No, I was nominated for the first time last year. So I literally just got here. So I was like not expecting anything, and I made this album out of pure love and friendship and inspiration, and I was just like, I was actually really, really shocked. So thank you. I'm excited. That's great. I mean, Album of the Year sounds like certainly the biggest one. Does that one mean more than the others, or do they all sort of, I mean, again, everything, the effort is equal probably in all? The album definitely takes longer than all the other ones. That's true. Right, because a whole album takes a lot longer than one song. I'm not in music, so I don't know. Yeah. But that does seem to make math sense, now that you say it. Yeah. So the album means so much to me. And then also, music video was a new one. I've never been nominated for music video, and thank you. A lot when it, I will say, I had a- They're so reactive. They're very reactive. But weirdly, can I say something? Weirdly less for me earlier. Weird. Yeah. We're going to work on it later to figure out what exactly. I think maybe my mic, was my mic off? It was low. It was low. You were backstage. You know sound. Yeah, I know sound. I love music. It's like, it's such a fun, big music video. Like, it feels like an old school throwback to the idea of like, let's be grand with the idea of like what we're going to try to put on screen. That was like actually the video in my head when I was writing the song, and I couldn't believe it came to life. And it's just one of those videos that you watch and you're just like, wait, what? I need to like, I need to like go back and watch that. Was that like a cow on its head? Or am I on drugs? Or what's going on? And I really like that because I think I make pop music, and sometimes you don't expect to see those visuals in a song like that. So, so that one means a lot to me. I'm very excited that everyone's liked the video, so. It's beautiful. I did feel bad. Like, I feel bad for every guy who got the call that's like, you're going to be in a Sabrina Carpenter video. And they were like, oh my God, am I cool? It's like, no, you're like, they wanted 50 different versions of a dummy. I have so many stories. I have so many stories. I mean, yeah, it's a very humbling casting call. And you know what? The most awesome thing is when they show up like, I'm ready to be the manchild of your dreams. You're just like, okay. They misunderstood the song. And so they're like, well, sort of, but no. They're like, my name's Dave. I do not understand irony. And I am looking to party with you. Did any, any mishaps? Because it did feel like you were out in the great outdoors. I was out in the great outdoors. I, I fell in a cactus. Oh, yeah. Thank you. That was so tender. It's so easy to laugh when people get hurt. And, and I did. But then I started crying. And then, no, don't go back. I was, there was a medic. I just, for the rest of the day, was taking out of. Yeah. It's no joke. When you, when you back into a cactus, like it's with you for a long time. Yeah. And, and, and I'll be honest, that shoot was so ambitious. We shot 37 outfits. Yeah. How many days did it take if you don't mind me asking? Well, so it took two at first. And then I watched the edit and I was like, it's not crazy enough yet. And it was already pretty crazy. So we went back and we, and we shot a third day. That was probably my biggest shoot I've ever done. I'm so grateful to be able to, to make that production of my dreams. But it was definitely like we endured a lot of pain to get the finish. What day of the three days? So please watch it. Yeah. It's a great video. Please watch it. And I do think, just so you know, what day, what day did you hit the cactus? I hit the cactus day two. Oh, wow. And you still were willing to go out to day three. That shows a real love of the game. I'm a professional. You're a pro. Yeah. Yep. You wrapped up an incredible tour. Congratulations on that as well. Do you have, I would imagine friends and family turn out for you while you're on the road? Yeah. Yeah. Do you like having friends and family on your show? I just love it because it's like, what if I did say like, I don't know. Well, you didn't do that many shows, right? Yeah. I did 70 shows. Well, so they probably were busy. Yeah. I mean, you know, life is so crazy. There's so much going on. No. My parents, they look at it like a, like a sporting event to be able to come to, you know, we just finished the last six shows of the show were in Los Angeles. And we played six shows at the Crypto Arena. And my parents both came and my mom, like one night, like brought all of these cheerleader. I didn't know she was a cheerleader. All these cheerleader friends. And, and, you know, like after the show, they're like wine drunk, they come backstage and they're just like, this was the best night ever. And I was just like, oh, that's so great. Like, I never get to watch the show. Yeah. Because I'm always on stage, but they're having a great time. And then the rest of the guests, like over the last 70 shows, I arrested. I don't know if you know I do that. Yes, I do. Yes. I never asked you, but next show. Oh, thank you. But you only did the 70. But there's so many more. But yeah, so I arrested a lot of people. And one night it was in London. And they told me that Janet Jackson was coming to the show. And I was just like, she's not busy? Like with something else? And how did she even find out about this show? You know, shows aren't really promoted like that anymore. You've got to kind of search for it. You've got to be like a fan and go on, you know, the streaming apps. I love that someone told you Janet Jackson was coming and all your follow-ups were about logistics. I was so excited. But I was just like, surely she'll have a dinner and something will come up and she won't be able to come. And she did. And she was so lovely. Oh, my God. And then when you met her, you were like, did you drive here? How did you get here? She's like, wow, she really wants to know the details. I have a lot more to ask you. Will you stick around? Yeah. You guys, this is Sabrina Carpenter. Welcome back. We're here with Sabrina Carpenter. Because you mentioned, obviously you knew ahead of time that Janet Jackson was coming to the show. Do you like to know everyone who's coming ahead of time? No, not everyone. Who don't you want to know? If they're really attractive, I don't want to know. Okay. That must be heartbreaking if someone says they're coming and they're like, we can tell her. Yeah. For that person. God. Are you in your head if you know someone's really attractive is there ahead of time? Honestly, I'd probably perform better. But I've just always told myself, like, just don't tell me and I'll know afterwards. And then I can just be very nonchalant. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think nonchalant is the hardest thing to fake. And so, like, it's good to be genuinely nonchalant. Genuinely nonchalant. Absolutely. Yeah. I think, Janet, when you wrapped up your tour, you put some messages on TikTok that I want to see. You said, saying goodbye to the heart pit where I pretended to be shocked by the surprise song. I think it's very nice. Now, be honest. We talked about how it's hard to fake nonchalance. Do you think your audience actually thought you were surprised by the surprise song? I'm... I don't know the answer. I mean... It'd be so terrible if I was like, yeah, they're idiots. I, I, it's not bad. I think it's like in the heat of the show. Yeah. It's just, it's like Christmas. It's like magical. I mean, the conceit is fantastic. Yeah. But I have to rehearse it. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, so what is true is, is that it's sort of a surprise for me, but I have options of things that I've rehearsed and then I'm surprised by what the option is. That's good. So there's a little surprise. There's a little bit of honesty. You're right. Nobody wants a genuine surprise and then you do like a super janky version of a song. No. They think they do, but they don't want that. This I thought was a nice moment of honesty too. The stairs that humbled my ass one too many times. So how often did you just regret the whole doing stairs thing? You know, uh, in heels, thoroughly. Yeah. And, and it really started to get worse at the end. Oh, you didn't get better at stairs. No. Wow. Ironically, I think I got so excited. Like the tour was ending and I was just like on a high. I was like, I only got 10 shows left. Let's like really give it a 12 tonight. And, and then I would just eat a plant every single, every single chance I got, my dancers would sort of just look at me like, and they keep moving and I would just sort of be like, okay. I think that's what, you know, there's 10 shows left is when the dancers don't go back for you. No. Yeah. They're like, we got to move on. We all got 10 shows left. I know what it's like. My crew would leave me for dead. Hey, I wanted to ask, uh, uh, the first time, uh, I met you very briefly at the end of SNL 50th. And I think you had the hardest job at the SNL 50th, which is you opened the show and it was you and Paul Simon. And what was that like? Um, I never thought I would collab with Paul Simon when I was born. I never even thought that that was in, you know, the ether. So when Warren had asked us to do this song together, which is one of my favorite songs of all time. And Paul Simon's one of my favorite songwriters and artists of all time. I was just like, weird, um, yes. And, and then I'll figure it out later. So later was like the night that it happened. Yeah. It's not that crazy. It was like, it was just really sweet and tender. I think for a moment I felt like I had something in common with Paul Simon, which is that we were both scared ****less and we were about to open the SNL 50 and we were just like, this is real, man. Like, this is very scary and intimidating. And I think there's a real truism there, which is right. Paul Simon has done it so many times. Yes. And yet I think there's no amount of times to do it, to not be scared ****less. Especially like that moment before the show starts where it's just like really quiet and you're about to do. Yeah. And you're about to do, I mean, for you, it's harder than anything I've had to do. I mean, I've had to talk. I haven't had to like sing. But talking's hard. Thank you. Nobody has enough respect for how hard it is to talk every night. But also like your audience was the, the level of difficulty of that audience, right? You have the most famous people that have maybe ever been in a room. I'm glad I didn't have this conversation with you right before you went on. But I am like getting nerves retroactively on your behalf. But I will say, did then doing SNL, you did double duty, which is the hardest thing in the world to do. Thank you. You're fantastic. Did it at least, did it feel a little bit easier having done the 50th? No. Yeah. No, it was, I think because it was the double duty of it all, I'd always wanted to do it. And then the week came and I was like, let's go. And then I was like, oh no, my throat. And then, and then I was like, oh no, I'm getting sick. And then it was, it was genuinely like, I felt so exercised. Like that week was, was a marathon. I have so much respect for the cast and the crew and the writers and the lack of. Nothing is harder than hosting and nothing, oh, obviously, and then on top of that, exponentially harder to do music as well. Because we were talking backstage, you never stop talking. Like there's no time when you're hosting where they're like, just take an hour to think. Like. No, no, no, no. And I would imagine you have some remedies for, I mean, again, your, your voice is, is your gift. But like, what do you do in a moment where you feel a cold coming on? You're like, oh no. You, well, you just kind of gotta, you gotta figure it out. And if I hit a flat note, I hit a flat note, you know? And that was one of those nights where I was just like, it doesn't matter, I'm on a race to the end. And, and once it starts, it doesn't stop. And I was like in and out of wigs every 30 seconds. My shoes were flying. I got, my arm was pulled out of my socket. Like, I was just like, it wasn't real. So by the end, and I was like. There's very bad security, I should note. Like, anyone gets in there. And I was like playing a 13 year old boy. And then 30 seconds later I was singing Manchild. So it was a very like. That's really, yeah. Through the looking glass there, yeah. Yeah. I think that was my favorite of your sketches. Thank you. The, what is it? Snack of. Snack homies. Bro. Absolutely fantastic. Yeah. Really funny. I want to ask about one more thing you posted on TikTok. The fireplace where I never knew if the shot would be water or tequila. So who decided if it would be water or tequila? I don't know. Just really never checked, huh? I love my crew. And I guess there was a moment in time where I just sort of surrendered to the process. Yeah. And once it was tequila once. Yeah. I was like, oh, I'm fun. I can do this. And I was like, you know, it keeps me on my toes. And like, then I just really like never know what I'm going to get with each show. And as a performer, I like to be thrown off sometimes. There you go. You know, just to see if I can handle it. So yeah, there was a few nights in there. I don't know. Now the audience has to like sort of guess and go back and try to figure it out. It'd be funny if we found out you have a very obvious face when it's tequila, where you're like. Or that's the face I make when it's water. That's a water face, right. You're so repulsed by not alcohol. I hate water. Well, all right. So I feel like this is a good segue to, I'm going to see you tomorrow. Yeah, I'm going to see you tomorrow. We're going to go day drinking. Yes. And it's going to air next week, but I'm very excited. I can't wait. I mean, whoa. Yeah. You're in for something fun. I believe it. Yeah, watch out. I like that you're telling me to watch out for you coming on my segment. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to it. This has been delightful. I'll see you tomorrow. You guys, Sabrina Carpenter, everyone.