Ariana Grande and Adam Sandler gave Us the laughs — and tears — we needed after a long week as they kicked off this year’s Variety & CNN’s Actors on Actors.
Grande, 32, and Sandler, 59, sat down for a conversation that aired on Friday, December 5, detailing what it’s like to film emotionally charged scenes.
“I’m a crier in life, but it’s not as easy when you’re performing. It’s not a party trick,” Grande said. “I invented triggers for Glinda [in Wicked and Wicked: For Good], so that I didn’t have to touch on my own because certain themes in this film are so adjacent to my life.”
She continued, “I had to design her pain so I didn’t need to reference my own. How are you with having to get the same moment over and over? These big moments when they’re in a wide shot and they keep coming in tighter and tighter.”
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In real life, however, the pop star revealed that she cried “five separate times” watching Sandler in Jay Kelly.
“I was choked up, but tears falling out of the eyes kind of crying,” she said. “You’re just so extraordinary in it, so congratulations on that.”
Sandler, for his part, also finds it difficult to tap into his tears.
“I think I’m a person who I don’t want to let down the crew that’s working hard there,” he said. “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.’ I don’t want to let myself down because I got so excited about when I read this [Jay Kelly] script and about certain scenes. … I don’t want to blow what’s written.”
Grande and Sandler’s Actors on Actors episode comes alongside the release of their respective new films, both of which are garnering awards buzz: Grande for her portrayal of Glinda in Wicked: For Good, and Sandler in Netflix’s Jay Kelly.
“It was a thrill for the family,” Sandler said of sitting down with Grande. “[My] family all jumped up and down that I get to spend time with you.”
Earlier this month, Sandler confessed that while he’s honored to be in the conversation for this year’s Oscars, he’s ultimately just excited that he got to be a part of the film, which follows an aging movie star (George Clooney) as he travels through Europe with his manager (Sandler), confronting his life choices and the sacrifices he’s made for his career. Laura Dern, Greta Gerwig, Riley Keough and Billy Crudup also star.
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“Well, that’s real cool and real nice of everybody to say, and I’m just happy I got to be in it,” he told People at the New York City premiere. “My man Noah Baumbach wrote [and directed] it, kind of put it all together, got the performances he wanted out of everybody, and I’m proud to be in it.”
Grande, meanwhile, nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2024 for her role as Glinda in Wicked part 1, alongside nine other nominations for the Jon Chu-directed musical adaptation. (Da’Vine Joy Randolph took home the win for The Holdovers.) The first movie followed part one of the Broadway musical source material, centering on Glinda and Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo) enemies to friends dynamic.
“I can’t believe it. It’s very surreal,” Grande told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2024 of the nod. “It is just the absolute honor of my life. Getting to play Glinda was the greatest gift of my life, so just to be recognized in this way for that is an unfathomable honor. And I’m so deeply moved and grateful, and it is far beyond comprehension.”
Wicked part 2, meanwhile, hit theaters in November and picks up at the start of the play’s second act. While For Good received less stellar reviews than the first film, Grande and Erivo have been continually lauded for their performances. If the pair nab nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, they will join a very short list of eight total performers in Oscars history to be recognized twice for the same role.
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Erivo, for her part, will also be participating in Actors on Actors later this month, in a conversation with Hugh Jackman, who stars in the upcoming Song Sung Blue. Grande and Sandler are the first to kick the series, which, for the first time ever, will air on CNN in a new partnership between the network and Variety throughout this month. Other pairings include Julia Roberts and Sean Penn, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jacob Elordi, Jonathan Bailey and David Corenswet, Brendan Fraser and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and more.
“Our next season, in which Hollywood A-listers once again get candid in one-on-one conversations, features some of the most revelatory, intimate and hilarious moments yet,” Ramin Setoodeh, Variety’s co-editor in chief and co-president, said in a statement. “We cannot wait for fans of this franchise to watch — and rewatch — these episodes on CNN’s new streaming offering and on Variety‘s social media channels.”
