Ariana Grande has addressed Wicked’s wild and sometimes embarrassing press tour, jokingly calling it “unbearable” and “horrible.”
The 31-year-old pop star, who recently addressed the “holding space” meme, appeared in a Actors On Actors Interview with Variety alongside Paul Mescal that premiered on Tuesday.
Handsome Irishman Paul, 28, spoke about Ariana’s relationship with the 37-year-old stage and film star, who recently revealed his ‘psychological tricks’ – and how their interviews to promote the musical have gone viral.
Gracie Abrams’ boyfriend said: ‘I’m watching them on the press tour. You are obviously in love with each other.
Before Paul finished his sentence, Ariana quickly joked, “Unbearable.” Yes. We are horrible. It’s bad.’
This came after Ariana and Cynthia had both shared their reactions to the strange ‘hold space’ meme which they were part of during the Wicked press conference.
Ariana Grande has addressed Wicked’s wild and sometimes embarrassing press tour, jokingly calling it “unbearable” and “horrible.”
The 31-year-old pop star appeared in an Actors On Actors interview with Variety alongside Paul Mescal that was published Tuesday.
The two actresses spoke with Variety on Friday about the embarrassing interview with journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist for Out magazine.
While discussing Wicked: Part One’s final issue, Defying Gravity, Gilchrist stated that fans were “taking the lyrics” and “really holding space with it.”
In the original clip, she put her hand on her chest while looking shocked and responded, “I didn’t know that was happening.” That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted.’
But in her latest meeting with Ariana and director Jon M. Chu, Cynthia and her co-star Ariana admitted they had “no idea” what Gilchrist was talking about when they put together an answer.
“I was surprised, because I had no idea, because I hadn’t been looking,” Cynthia admitted of the alleged social media posts that inspired Gilchrist.
“She said, ‘Well, I guess,'” Ariana added of the journalist’s response when asked about the alleged posts.
“I had no idea this was happening,” Cynthia reiterated in her interview with Variety.
“So I didn’t know what any part of that meant,” Ariana said more clearly, making Jon laugh. “I didn’t understand the first sentence. And then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening, how you responded.
Handsome Irishman Paul, 28, opened up about Ariana’s relationship with the 37-year-old stage and screen star and how their interviews to promote the musical have gone viral.
Gracie Abrams’ boyfriend said: ‘I’m watching them on the press tour. You are obviously in love with each other.
Before Paul finished his sentence, Ariana quickly joked, “Unbearable.” Yes. We are horrible. it’s bad’
The talented duo shared a laugh.
She continued, “I was like, ‘Oh, what did she say and what did you hear?’ And I just wanted to be there (for Cynthia), because I knew something big was happening and I didn’t know how to be there.”
Then the new interview edited into a clip of Ariana awkwardly grabbing Cynthia’s index finger in an apparent show of support from the original meme.
“But then after a while, I didn’t know how to be there,” Cynthia replied as the director couldn’t contain his laughter.
“She said something that meant something to her, then it meant something totally different to you, then she tried to get somewhere else,” Ariana tried to explain. “And the craziest thing was that I remember at that moment wondering, ‘Am I okay? Did I not hear something?’
‘Because (Cynthia) looks like she’s about to cry again and I’m about to grab (her finger) because I think (she) might need something, and I don’t know what the tapping (her finger) is about -‘
“Tension,” Cynthia suggested.
Cynthia then said she was taken aback by Gilchrist’s announcement that he worked in “queer media.”
‘Honestly, I didn’t know what that meant. And I’m in queer media too? Maybe?’ he added with perplexity.
This came just days after the two stars and director Jon M. Chu shared their reactions to the strange ‘holding space’ meme and the original interview while chatting with Variety on Friday.
Journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist inspired the meme during an interview for Out Magazine. While discussing Wicked: Part One’s closing number, Defying Gravity, Gilchrist stated that fans were “taking the lyrics” and “really holding space with it.”
Cynthia said she had “no idea” what Gilchrist was talking about, and Ariana responded, “So I didn’t know what any part of that meant.” I didn’t understand the first sentence. And then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening, how you responded.’
Fans mocked how Ariana grabbed Cynthia’s elegantly manicured index finger during her surprising emotional response.
‘(Cynthia) looks like she’s about to cry again and I’m about to grab (her finger) because I think (she) might need something, and I don’t know what the tapping (her finger) is about—’ while which Cynthia suggested was a response to ‘tension’
Cynthia changed things up and mentioned how much she enjoyed the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus version of the interview (pictured), which the singers had set to music.
Ariana said she hadn’t seen it, but mocked Gilchrist by correcting herself. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen it,” he said, echoing Gilchrist’s claim that he had “seen” the mysterious, hard-to-articulate social media posts that inspired his line of questioning.
But Ariana sounded more positive, saying she was very “relieved” that other people had the same “experience” with the interview as her.
“Because I felt, ‘Oh, I’m not broken,'” she added.
Then Cynthia changed things up and mentioned how much she enjoyed the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus version of the interview, which the singers had set to music.
Ariana responded that she hadn’t seen it, but then mocked Gilchrist by correcting herself.
“Yeah, well, I’ve seen it,” he said, echoing Gilchrist’s claim that he had “seen” the mysterious, hard-to-articulate social media posts that supposedly inspired his original line of questioning.
The Wicked director didn’t have much to add, as he admitted that he was in ‘the other room’ when Ariana and Cynthia were doing their original interview, although he joked that he felt the presence of a meme coming to life.