For over a decade now, Ariana Grande has been generally known as one of many largest and finest voices in up to date pop music. From “Harmful Lady” and “Bang Bang” to “Sure, And?” and “7 Rings,” the two-time Grammy-winning Boca Raton-bred vocalist has dominated radio and streaming playlists alike together with her trademark riffs and genre-blending catalog.
Earlier than she arrange a residency within the uppermost areas of the Billboard Scorching 100, nonetheless, Grande’s major profession was in appearing. In spite of everything, essentially the most devoted Ariana Grande stans first encountered the star by means of grainy YouTube clips of her Broadway debut (2008’s 13) or re-runs of Nickelodeon classics Victorious and Sam & Cat. After spending a number of years cementing herself as one of the crucial dominant forces in mainstream music, Grande is making a grand return to appearing with not one, however two forthcoming theatrical releases.
Grande is about to star as Glinda the Good Witch within the movie adaptation of Depraved, the fourth-longest-running Broadway present of all time, which, in flip, pulls inspiration from the bestselling novel of the identical title by Gregory Maguire. Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo is about to play reverse Grande as Elphaba, often known as the Depraved Witch of the West. Different notable solid members embrace Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony Award nominee Ethan Slater as Boq, Emmy Award nominee Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum because the Wizard of Oz.
For its transition to the silver display, Depraved might be break up into two separate film musicals. The primary movie is slated to hit theatres on Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), with the second movie following nearly precisely a yr in a while Nov. 26, 2025. The movie’s first trailer debuted in the course of the 2024 Tremendous Bowl, giving followers a style of each the whimsical world crafted by director Jon M. Chu and Erivo’s tackle the enduring “Defying Gravity” closing riff.
As we proceed to depend down the times to Depraved — and her imminent Everlasting Sunshine album — make a journey down reminiscence lane a relive the very best of Ariana Grande’s appearing roles all through her profession thus far.
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The Battery’s Down (2009)
How’s this for a throwback? For Ariana Grande’s first correct tv billing now we have to go all the best way again to 2009. That’s proper, 4 entire years earlier than she made her Billboard Scorching 100 debut with “The Method” (with Mac Miller).
Within the “Dangerous Dangerous Information” episode (season two, episode two) of Connor Gallagher’s The Battery’s Down — a 2008 musical comedy collection — Grande is billed as “Bat Mitzvah Riffer.” Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t actually do a lot exterior of belting out some ridiculous excessive notes in an look that lasts simply half a minute, however at the very least she sounded nice whereas doing so!
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Household Man (2014)
On condition that that is only a cameo, Grande’s look on Household Man simply barely makes this record. Nonetheless, her nod to her Italian heritage makes it memorable sufficient. In “Mother’s the Phrase,” episode 12 of season 12 of Household Man, Grande voices one of many Italian next-door neighbors that Stewie and Brian listen in on.
In a approach, this Household Man cameo foreshadowed Grande’s eventual collaboration with a fellow Italian-American pop icon. Keep in mind when she and Woman Gaga topped the Billboard Scorching 100 with their Grammy-winning dance-pop anthem “Rain on Me” (2020)?
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Zoolander 2 (2016)
In 2016, the identical yr Grande unleashed her Grammy-nominated Harmful Lady LP, Ben Stiller lastly unveiled the long-awaited sequel to 2001’s Zoolander. Showing alongside Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz and Kristen Wiig, Grande made a cameo as SM Woman. She seduces Owen Wilson’s character whereas donning a black latex ensemble much like the bunny ear-leotard combo she regularly wore in the course of the Harmful Lady period. Once more, probably not a showcase of her expertise, however this cameo does communicate to how robust Grande’s model had grown by 2016.
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Snowflake, the White Gorilla (2011)
Have you ever ever questioned if Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy ever teamed as much as act exterior of their hit Nickelodeon collection, the reply is sure! Each Sam & Cat leads appeared within the 2013 American English dub of 2011’s Snowflake, the White Gorilla.
Grande voices the titular character within the movie, which explores Snowflake’s — the one white gorilla on this planet — try to flee the zoo and discover a witch to assist her develop into a “regular” gorilla. Whereas the movie is nothing greater than a blip within the bigger cultural consciousness, it supplied Grande an opportunity to indicate off each hr voice-acting bona fides and her means to guide a function movie.
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Underdogs (2016)
Right here’s a little-known reality about Ariana Grande’s early profession: she appeared in not one, however two English-language dubs of animated options. In 2016, an English-language dub of Underdogs lastly arrived on Netflix and DVD following a scrapped theatrical launch.
Underdogs follows a younger boy named Amadeo on his journey to defend his crown because the city’s reigning desk soccer king and eventually rating the lady of his desires, Laura, voiced by Grande. Different notable Underdogs solid members embrace Shawn Mendes, Matthew Morrison, Katie Holmes, Bella Thorne, Nicholas Hoult, Brooklyn Beckham, Mel Brooks and Jay Pharaoh. Panned by critics and quietly offloaded onto streaming, Underdogs was removed from successful. On the very least, Grande confirmed some enchancment from her final voice-acting gig.
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Winx Membership (2013-2014)
When it got here time to revive Winx Membership Stateside, Nickelodeon knew to faucet Victorious co-stars and BFFs Liz Gillies and Ariana Grande.
The “Positions” singer voiced Princess Diaspro for twelve episodes between 2013 and 2014. A licensed imply lady, Princess Diaspro is one in all Winx Membership’s most conniving characters — particularly in the case of getting in the best way of her ex-fiancé and his new girlfriend. Attributable to scheduling conflicts, Grande couldn’t return for the present’s sixth season, so she was recast with Cassandra Lee Morris.
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Kidding (2020)
In the event you don’t already know by now, Ariana Grande adores Jim Carrey. She referenced The Truman Present (1998) in her photoshoot for her Billboard 200-topping Sweetener LP, she’s known as him a “lifelong crush” and Everlasting Sunshine of the Spotless Thoughts is the dominant affect for her forthcoming Everlasting Sunshine album.
Thus, it was no shock that the 2 stars lastly discovered their approach to one another in an expert capability. In 2018, Carrey debuted Kidding, a Showtime dramedy that adopted Mr. Pickles, a kids’s tv presenter, who should stability his multimillion-dollar pickle empire with onslaught of household drama and private tragedy. The collection, which starred Frank Langella, Judy Greer and Catherine Keener, amongst others, picked up a pair of 2019 Golden Globe nominations, each of which it misplaced.
Grande visitor starred within the fifth episode of Kidding’s second season as Piccola Grande, the Pickle Fairy of Hope. Unsurprisingly, her cameo was her singing a music, however she did it whereas sitting on a tree department and donning a pickle fairy costume, and that’s what issues!
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A Snow White Christmas (2012)
Do you know that there’s a pantomime model of Snow White that features songs from the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Corridor & Oates? Nicely, one exists, and again in 2012, Grande performed the titular princess within the 2012 Pasadena Playhouse revival of the Kris Lythgoe-penned present. The manufacturing ran from Dec. 12-30, 2012.
Low-quality recordings of the present are nonetheless out there on YouTube, and regardless that the footage is a bit crunchy, the “Break Free” singer sounds attractive. Grande is a pure within the musical theatre realm, so any position in that enviornment is a slam dunk for her.
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Swindle (2013)
The unsung heroes of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel are their unique motion pictures. Gloriously campy and sometimes accompanied by a brand new banger or two, these movies allowed younger followers to see their favourite stars exterior of their trademark tv collection.
Swindle, a 2013 movie primarily based on Gordon Korman’s 2008 kids’s novel of the identical title, follows a good friend group as they attempt to rectify getting swindled out of an extremely precious Honus Wagner baseball card. The movie was squarely a Nickelodeon affair, with sneak peeks airing throughout three separate Sam & Cat episodes in addition to the collection finale of Huge Time Rush. So far as most of these motion pictures go, Grande delivered a advantageous efficiency alongside co-stars Jennette McCurdy, Noah Crawford and Chris O’Neal. If something, it was good to see Grande grapple with Nick materials exterior of the Cat Valentine character.
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13 (2008)
Again to the place all of it started! The 2008 Broadway manufacturing of 13 marked the skilled debuts of each Grande and Elizabeth Gillies. Throughout 105 performances and 22 previews, Grande rocked the Nice White Ray as Charlotte, one of many key feminine characters within the Jason Robert Brown-penned musical. The manufacturing earned Brown a Drama Desk Award nod for excellent lyrics.
Like her different stage performances, solely low-quality recordings of 13 can be found on-line. Regardless, these clips discover a fierce, younger Ariana Grande completely killing her choreography and blocking as if she had been a seasoned Broadway star. Over 15 years faraway from the unique 13 run, the musical nonetheless stands as a guiding gentle in Grande’s profession. In spite of everything, she’s (sort of) returning to these roots with the upcoming Depraved motion pictures and she or he and Brown have collaborated twice — 2016’s “Jason’s Music” and 2020’s “Nonetheless Hurting” — since first assembly one another by means of 13.
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Do not Look Up (2021)
Standing as essentially the most mature movie in her still-growing filmography, Grande took it to the Oscars with Don’t Look Up. An apocalyptic black comedy infused with political satire, Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up follows two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) trying to warn the world about an impending comet set to destroy human civilization and completely alter the planet.
Grande stars as Riley Bina, a world pop star who’s ultimately capable of decide herself up from her trivial romance woes to jot down and file an unique music to assist the astronomer get their message to the plenty. That is simply the newest we’ve seen Grande onscreen, and the nuance she brings to the character — in addition to the best way she infuses Riley’s persona with glints of her personal expertise as an internationally famend pop star — demonstrates outstanding development from her youthful roles.
In 2022, Don’t Look Up broke the Netflix weekly viewing file with 152.29 million hours considered in its second week of launch. The movie additionally picked up 4 Academy Award nominations, together with finest image, whereas Grande’s unique music — the Child Cudi-assisted “Simply Look Up” — received the 2022 Society of Composers & Lyricists Award for excellent unique music for a comedy or musical visible media manufacturing.
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Victorious, iCarly and Sam & Cat (2010-2014)
The girl, the parable, the legend — Cat Valentine. The position that cemented Grande as a new-age Nickelodeon and gave her the catalyst for her record-breaking pop profession, Cat Valentine carried the “Sure, And?” singer by means of three collection: Victorious, iCarly (visitor stints depend!) and Sam & Cat.
In essence, Cat is a trademark ditz – with a worry of clouds! — who’s bubbly and candy. Individuals typically mistake her as a whole fool (she’s not) due to her ethereal tone of voice, and regardless of her tendency to search out herself in unsavory conditions, she all the time reveals up for her pals. There’s additionally Cat’s distinctive pink hair — a ‘try this was synonymous with Grande earlier than the ponytail got here round, in case you can imagine it!
Comedic appearing is usually underrated, and what Grande did with Cat Valentine was one thing fairly particular. From her random interjections to her extra critical moments of disappointment and frustration, Grande introduced a whole lot of verve and nuance to a personality that would have been remarkably flat in lesser fingers.
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Scream Queens (2015)
How might a task that included such an iconic loss of life scene not prime the record? Boasting a star-studded solid comprised of Grande, Emma Roberts, Neicy Nash-Betts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Keke Palmer, Lea Michele, Glen Powell and Billie Lourd, Scream Queens is on the Mount Rushmore of early Gen Z TV cult classics. The slasher-themed horror-comedy took the ethos of fellow Ryan Murphy anthology collection American Horror Story and injected it with camp of the best diploma.
Taking part in Sonya Herfmann, Grande slayed her position as one of many Chanels — consider them as descendants of the Heathers or the Plastics — that dominate Kappa Kappa Tau sorority at Wallace College. Her breathy intonation for the characters evokes her traditional Cat Valentine efficiency, however there’s a stage of straight-up cattiness that she brings to her Scream Queens position that completely enhances the present’s comedic tone. The Crimson Satan could have gotten her ultimately — the top of the primary episode, that’s — however Grande’s successful efficiency trumps all.
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