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NEED TO KNOW
- For Ariana Grande, the process of making the movie adaptation Evil made her feel so inspired that she “had to” write an album
- Grande said filming gave her a “genuine spark” of “reconnection and inspiration” with her music
- Grande recorded her 2024 album Eternal sunshine while shooting Evil
Evil changed Ariana Grande for good – and inspired her to keep making albums.
“I felt like a real spark, like a feedback and inspiration and something I mean, maybe I missed it,” Grande, 32, said of the filming Evil in a new interview with Evan Ross Katz on Shut up Evan podcast, published Friday, October 24.
Maybe it’s as simple as I missed it,” she continued. “But I feel like you have to miss things to learn to get better, you know what I mean? And I think I learned so much. And then I really wanted to do it. I just felt I couldn’t. It was an inspired moment and I had to write an album and I had to do it.”
Grande went on to reveal that Evil the production team warned her about the shooting schedule in January – but she didn’t let the demands of making the film deter her creative passion.
“I said, fine, that’s fine. I’ll finish it before then, or I’ll finish it after,” Grande said of her rigorous recording and filming schedule.
Eternal sunshine saw Grande work with acclaimed producers Max Martin, Ilya and more. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
Grande stars in the film adaptations of Evil as Galinda “Glinda” Upland. When she mentioned pausing filming amid the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Katz chimed in and asked her about returning to filming after such a long hiatus, and if she had to “find” herself in the role again.
“No, it was there. There was nothing to be found. It was so weird, I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder if this is going to feel weird.’ And as soon as I got there, it was like clear. She was right there, it was wonderful, thank God,” Grande said as he stepped back into Glinda’s shoes.
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Evil was released in November 2024, with Wicked: Too goodthe second part of the film adaptation, which opens in theaters on November 21.
