Ariana Grande had a hard time leaving her bowl-cut-sporting Saturday Night Live character, Antonio. On November 14, the Thank U Next singer appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote her highly anticipated film Wicked. Speaking about her recent hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, she admitted she was feeling traumatized by her character Antonio, the viral dead-eyed castrato.
“He’s still with me, you know?” she told host Fallon. “I’m still unpacking Antonio’s emotional burden with my therapist,” Grande said. The character was part of the SNL skit Castrati in which Antonio was presented by his parents Andy Samberg and Maya Rudolph to perform for Prince Enzo (Andrew Dismukes).
During the sketch, Grande shows off her high-pitched voice while remaining in character. The drama has since gone viral to such an extent that fans have been flocking to him at Wicked premieres around the world asking for autographs on the character’s pictures.
She said, “They’re coming to the premiere, which is crazy. But I mean, I really – I understand it. I appreciate it.”
The pop star crushed all of her skits on the Oct. 12 episode of the sketch comedy series, and among her viral skits was her bridesmaids speech sketch that featured a group of bridesmaids — Grande, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, and Sarah Sherman — A graduation holiday. The girls perform a parody of Sabrina Carpenter’s smash hit Espresso, revealing unwanted details of their vacation.
During the parody, they reveal the bride (Chloe Fineman) having an affair with a boy in front of the groom (Andrew Dismukes). Fallon said, “I think I liked it the most because it’s very rare for you to sing off-key.” Grande immediately said it was one of her favorite sketches.
“It was really fun. It was something that we found in the moment,” he said. Grande said, “I pitched it to the writers… I said, ‘Would it be funnier if it just got worse?’ Grande continued.
The singer’s upcoming film Wicked will release in theaters on November 22.
