Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s bond is a popular subject.
The “Wicked” stars have continued to showcase their strong connection while promoting the musical movie, and now Erivo, 37, is speaking on how the pair communicate through touch.
“I think I’m sort of used to it now,” the actress said in a teaser clip for her Dec. 10 appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
Erivo added, “If it’s not like connected, I’m like, what’s wrong? What’s happening? Where are you? You know what I mean?”
The “Harriet” star went on to detail how she and Grande, 31, “always end up.”
“We walk hand-in-hand very often,” she said. “Like, if we’re not walking hand-in-hand, we’ll find each other somewhere.”
Barrymore, 49, known for getting physically close to her guests while interviewing them, replied how she’s unable to hold back from “holding hands, hugging, snuggling” people.
“I think we assume that physical connection can only be romantic,” Erivo added, noting that some people are “a bit afraid of physical connection.”
Erivo and Grande have been known to hold hands during interviews for “Wicked” over the past several weeks, with “The Color Purple” vet stating that she thinks “we don’t realize that how we communicate sometimes is by physical touch.”
“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 went on. “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.”
She noted, “And I think we don’t give enough credit to how we communicate with our friends physically.”
Last month, Erivo appeared emotional as she talked about how removing the green makeup everyday made her feel more comfortable in her own skin.
“I am a person and I feel, and I have feelings, and I can share them,” she told PinkNews, before Grande interjected: “And if you need to cry right now, you cry.”
In the clip, Grande also became emotional over the comment, clutching her co-star hand and praising her beauty.
“Someone said to me once that the green was what I loved the most about Elphaba and I would want to stay green, but actually being green, yes, I loved playing this character,” Erivo said. “But every time I took the makeup off I loved who I was even more.”
Erivo added through tears, “So I have come away feeling really beautiful.”
Grande added: “You f–king are! Holy s–t, you know?”
At the end of the clip, the PinkNews reporter revealed it was her first junket.
“Well, you have been the light of the day, you have been a gift,” the “7 Rings” songstress replied.
Erivo, for her part, chimed in: “You brought such light into the room. Thank you very much for coming into this room today, we needed you to come in.”
Fans commented that the video felt like “an emotional support group” while other viewers noted the uncomfortable press tour kept them from seeing the movie.
One person wrote: “I’m old enough to remember when press junkets made you want to go see the film,” while another added, “I’m so turned off by the advertising of this film. I refuse to see it.”
The pair also made headlines over rumors that Grande was paid $15 million to star as Glinda the Good Witch in the two-part movie musical, while Erivo only got $1 million to play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
Universal Pictures ultimately denied the alleged $14 million pay gap.
“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,” a spokesperson for the film studio said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
Despite not revealing how much the pair were paid for the musical, they added: “The women received equal pay for their work on ‘Wicked.’”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
