For a global pop superstar like Ariana Grande, it’s difficult to attain further levels of fame. Now, along with being a chart-topper and live performer who can sell out the biggest arenas in the world, she is now an Oscar-nominated actor and the heart of one of the cinematic success stories of 2024. Grande’s performance as Glinda, the bubbly, vain sorceress student in Wicked, is a triumph, both a revelatory turn by the singer and the film’s greatest asset. With the highly-anticipated second part, Wicked: For Good, set to release later in 2025, she will remain a prominent figure in the film world. Being no stranger to the screen prior to her groundbreaking music career, Grande looks to carry her Wicked baggage into future roles that play into her greatest strength as an actor: comedy. A new installment in the Meet the Parents series might not move the needle, but Grande’s involvement is exactly the spark it needs.
Ben Stiller Teases a “Really Funny” Part for Ariana Grande in the New ‘Meet the Parents’
It’s easy to forget how massive the Meet the Parents trilogy was during the 2000s. Considering the endangered status of studio comedies, turning the Ben Stiller–Robert De Niro-led 2000 film into a trilogy seems baffling, if not a blatant cash grab. By the time Little Fockers rolled out, everyone probably rolled their eyes, but it still made over $300 million worldwide at the box office. With Stiller and De Niro coming off writing and producing Severance and earning a late-career Oscar nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon, respectively, the two are set to reunite for a fourth installment in the Parents series. With director Jay Roach now in the producer’s chair, longtime series writer John Hamburg is planning to take the reins as director.
Last month, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Ariana Grande has been cast in an unknown role in this upcoming movie by Universal Studios (which also produced Wicked), along with Stiller, De Niro, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo. The series has historically pulled in unexpected star power, as Meet the Fockers added Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. Plot details remain unclear at the time, but THR sources stated that one aspect of the story revolves around the son of Greg Focker (Stiller) and Pam Byrnes (Polo), who “gets engaged to a ball-busting woman who seems all wrong for him.” Allegedly, this “ball-busting” fiancé will be played by Grande. “She’s going to be really, really funny and kind of the whole engine of the new movie,” Stiller teased to the Today show. The film is scheduled for a November 2026 theatrical release.
Ariana Grande’s Accomplished Track Record as a Comedic Actor
While Meet the Parents stripped down Robert De Niro’s serious, tough guy persona, and paved the way for his prolific comedy career in the 21st century, no one needs to be hard-sold on Grande as a comedic presence. For some, the muted colors and restrained choreography of the musical numbers were unavoidable flaws in Wicked, but everyone agreed that Grande was pure dynamic on screen, capturing the self-obsession and pride of a student who knows a thing or two about being popular. However, because she’s such an affectionate and sensitive performer, it’s impossible to ever loathe Glinda, and the key to her performance was her natural humor of both broad and subtle strokes.
Before ascending to global pop star status, Grande was already a pivotal figure for kids and tweens, as she was the stand-out on the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious. The ditzy, effervescent persona that empowered Glinda on the big screen was first utilized as Cat in Victorious, and it’s no surprise that Grande’s core mode as an actor appeals to a family-friendly audience. Grande was such a breakthrough that she received her own spin-off series, Sam & Cat, but by this point, she was embarking on her illustrious music career. Still, she found time to re-work her acting chops as a two-time host of Saturday Night Live. Splitting duties as a musical performer, Grande, like Justin Timberlake, proved to be a natural on SNL, letting loose and poking fun at her distinct persona.
Adam McKay‘s political satire, Don’t Look Up, is a misguided mess, but Grande’s brief role as Riley Bina, a singer brought in to distract from the impending apocalypse, is one of the film’s few moments of genuine charm. Where many pop stars vow prestigious acclaim following years of success on the stage, Ariana Grande is taking a shrewd approach to her acting career by leaning into her strength as a comedy star. Her post-Wicked cachet is the kind of pop a new Meet the Parents, which would otherwise feel uninspired and redundant, needs. After making family-friendly audiences laugh for over a decade, Grande is ready to tackle edgier comedy, bouncing off cinematic stalwarts in Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.