Ariana Grande Wanted Bowen Yang to Do ‘Wicked’ So Badly She Called Lorne Michaels to Work Around ‘SNL’
When it came to the character Pfannee in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming movie musical, “Wicked,” Ariana Grande knew Bowen Yang was the man for the job — so much so that she called his boss to convince him to let the actor do it.
“I was so, so over the moon excited that you were going to be able to do it — I called Lorne!” Grande told Yang in a Wednesday interview on his podcast, “Las Culturistas.”
“Wait, did you know about this?” Grande asked, nervously.
“I knew about this,” Yang assured.
“Is that OK that I — can I talk about this?”
“It’s your reveal, as long as you’re comfortable.”
Grande continued: “I knew that it was a huge, massive ask — and also probably an impossible one. And I didn’t have anything, any sort of resolution to pitch him, but I just called him and I was like, ‘Hi, Lorne! Oh my goodness, how are you?’ And he as like, ‘Hello, Ariana. What’s going on?’ And I was like, ‘Um, is there anyway, is there anyway? … That was the most nervous I have ever been. But, um, you know, he, yeah, we made it work.”
“He made it work,” Yang affirmed.
“You made it work. You exhausted yourself and worked yourself to the bone,” Grande emphasized.
Watch the full interview below:
Previously on “Las Culturistas,” his iHeart podcast with comedian Matt Rogers, Yang has opened up about the difficulty of juggling his time filming “Wicked” abroad and going back and forth to New York City for “SNL.” It was during that time, however, that his friendship with Grande grew.
“It was really tough what you put yourself through,” Grande said. “But you were amazing.”
“Zero regrets!” Yang said.
Grande, who stars as Glinda in the anticipated adaptation of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical, recently got a taste of Yang’s world by hosting “SNL” for the second time in what her co-star enthused was a “top-tier, A-plus, all-time perfect episode.” Asked what she made of her time on the sketch comedy series, Grande said she “had the time of my life.”
“I would have done it right after we finished at 1 a.m. again,” she said. “I really love being there, I love every single person there, like, I just had the loveliest, best time with everyone. And I love laughing, I love comedy, I love bits.”
Watch Grande’s full “Las Culturistas” interview in the video above.
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