- Ariana Grande made her pop debut at just 19
- Now aged 31, she says being a pop star is a ‘character’ she plays
- Grande thought she would be on Broadway ‘forever’
Ariana Grande has been a pop icon since she released her debut album in 2013, aged just 19 – earning two Grammy awards and a string of number one hits throughout her career.
But now 31, the Dangerous Woman singer says that the Ariana Grande we know and love is actually more of a “character”.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Grande – who is up for an Oscar for her role as Glinda in Wicked – explained, “At a certain point, you get tired of that [pop star] character, because it is a character.
“There are pieces of you and your story that are woven throughout your songwriting, but then, because of the way it travels and becomes sensationalized, it gets away from you.
“And beneath all of it is just a girl from Boca who loves art, and I think that’s why it’s been such a deeply healing gift to disappear into this character [Glinda] – to take off one mask and put on another.”
Ariana Grande ‘lost money’ playing Glinda
Wicked was shot over the course of 18 months in London – so Grande relocated to the British capital and focused on nothing else but the part for the duration.
“Can you imagine how much money she must be losing by doing Glinda?” director Jon M. Chu questioned, as Grande gave up singing, songwriting and touring to dedicate herself to the role.
But Granda revealed that she is a theater girl through and through.
“I really thought I’d be a Broadway girl forever,” said Grande. “I mean, that was the dream: I’d be in New York City doing eight shows a week, and then maybe on the side I’d be able to do music, and some people would want to hear it.”
Of the gruelling audition process to play Glinda, the Dangerous Woman singer says she enjoyed the transformation of shedding her pop star skin.
“People who didn’t understand would say, ‘Oh, that’s so silly, they know how talented you are,’ and I was like, ‘That’s very nice, but Glinda requires so much. I have to be able to earn this and I don’t want it unless I’ve earned it,’ ” Grande added.
“It became this beautiful evolution of getting to know myself beneath it all. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I love this person underneath the drag.’”
Ariana Grande says she struggles with spotlight
Of course, growing up in the spotlight is incredibly tough – and Grande auditioned for her Nickelodeon debut Victorious when she was just 14.
After her debut album was released, Grande struggled with fame and tabloid stories about her.
“I was so lucky to have incredible friends and family and an incredible therapist, even though there were rumors about her leaving me,” she continued. “It was just a crazy time. All I wanted was to sing and for it to be about my work, and it felt like the more successful the music became, the more people tried to destroy me.”
And while she has become better at dealing with rumors as she’s become older, Grande still grapples with that aspect of her work.
“It’ll never be unpainful,” she admitted. “But also, I walk with the awareness that I’m an artist and this is a path that I’ve chosen, and so I just try to protect myself so that I never start to resent the art.”
