Let the waterworks flow!
Drew Barrymore and Ariana Grande shared a moment that ended in tears when they discussed the “dark and ugly” side of Hollywood during the “Wicked” star’s appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” Wednesday.
The conversation started when Grande, 31, interrupted Barrymore’s “Wicked” praises to honor the actress-turned-talk show host, 49.
“I admire you so much because I know how hard you do work to learn and to take care of yourself and to grow,” the singer told Barrymore. “And I know how young you started. And I don’t know too much about what your relationship has been to this industry the whole time, but I do know what you have shared publicly about it and I just have to say it can be ugly sometimes and your strength and your heart and who you are, the light that you bring, and your ability to dance in the rain and preserve that childlike wonder is such a gift.”
When Grande’s voice began to crack, the “Charlie’s Angels” star leaned in to embrace her — but Ariana kept singing Barrymore’s praises.
“I know that that does take a lot of hard work to come home to little Drew and embrace her and to get there and do that. It gets hard,” she continued. “And I just wanted to say that because I admire you so much — not only because of your brilliant work but because of the light that you bring and how happy you make people. Because that’s really the most important thing.”
Tears began to swell in Barrymore’s eyes as she returned the love.
“That means so much to me coming from you. I as a mother look at you so proud that my daughters and I love you so much because you’re such a good person,” she said while Grande wiped away tears.
“And what you’ve done with this film and your life and your work is you’ve shown that no matter what, because it can be dark and ugly sometimes, is that you just find that beauty because it’s there.”
Barrymore continued to advise Grande to “put one foot in front of the other and you be yourself” while composing herself and bringing the conversation back to “Wicked.”
“And the fight to be one’s self is so hard and confusing for every human being on this planet, but you put out a film that literally, in this world, brings people together,” Barrymore said. “Do you know what an accomplishment that is? Oh, my god!”
The superstars agreed that they are “tremendous people pleasers.”
“Sometimes when we are tired or giving too much, it’s OK to have a boundary in a loving and respectful way,” Grande assured Barrymore. “Boundaries will save your life, and the most loving thing to do is say, ‘Hi, I’m Drew Barrymore, and I’m tired today.’”
That wasn’t the only time tears fell during the interview.
Grande also cried when Barrymore presented her the famous wand from the 1939 original film “The Wizard of Oz.”
The “7 Rings” singer plays Glinda in the musical fantasy flick opposite of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
Erivo, 37, recently told Barrymore about her physical connection with Grande.
“Sometimes you can’t say anything and you’re in a room … it’s just like a squeeze of a hand and that’s sometimes how she and I communicate,” she said. “We might be talking to someone or I might need to, like, communicate something to her. It’s just a squeeze of the hand or just a pinch of a finger, you know, or a hug. … However we need to communicate, it is how we need to communicate.”
Erivo’s interview with Barrymore airs on Dec. 10.
