Ariana Grande returned to late-night television alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, joining her costars for an evening of music and comedy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The 33-year-old appeared on the November 8 broadcast, a special Sunday edition that followed NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The trio had been announced as guests six days earlier.
They were promoting Focker In-Law, the fourth installment in the Meet the Parents franchise. The comedy opens in theaters November 25.
PEOPLE described the visit as Grande’s first television appearance since announcing plans to step back from public-facing work.
Grande Joins Fallon for a Christmas Song and Comedy Games
Their entrance came during a monologue bit about the approaching holidays. After Fallon said the season made him want to sing, Grande, Stiller and De Niro stepped out to help. They performed “O Christmas Tree,” with De Niro finishing the number by lip-syncing to a dramatic operatic voice.
The group also played True Confessions, taking turns telling stories while the others tried to determine whether they were true. Grande persuaded her fellow players that she had fallen into an aquarium tank as a child, but the story was invented, according to Variety.
Another segment presented the four as castmates in a fictional soap opera called My Family’s Money. The sketch paired exaggerated performances with a director’s enthusiasm for dramatic slow clapping.
Grande’s First Rehearsal Involved Giving Stiller the Heimlich Maneuver
During the interview, Grande explained that writer-director John Hamburg had sent her the screenplay. She connected with the material and was thrilled by the opportunity to work with the cast. “I was so honored to be asked,” she told Fallon, as UPI reported.
Her first rehearsal offered an unusual way to settle into the production. With help from the stunt team, Grande practiced performing the Heimlich maneuver on Stiller for a scene in the film. She recalled telling her mother, Joan, that she had spent hours working on it.
Grande plays Olivia Jones, a hostage negotiator whose relationship with Henry Focker, played by Skyler Gisondo, brings her into the family. Stiller returns as Henry’s father, Greg, while De Niro reprises his role as grandfather Jack Byrnes.
Universal Pictures also lists returning cast members Teri Polo, Owen Wilson and Blythe Danner, alongside Beanie Feldstein and Eduardo Franco. The film is the franchise’s first installment since Little Fockers in 2010.
Grande Said Her Break Had Been Planned Well in Advance
Grande’s representative announced August 2 that she intended to reduce public-facing work after completing her Eternal Sunshine Tour, citing persistent public scrutiny. The tour concluded in London on September 1.
Grande addressed fans directly at Chicago’s United Center on August 3. Reading from prepared notes, she said the decision was “not a reactive or impulsive thing,” according to the transcript published by NBC Chicago.
She explained that she had quietly made the plan some time earlier. Needing boundaries and time away, she said, could coexist with enjoying the tour and considering it an important creative experience.
Her decision also meant withdrawing from a planned London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, in which she had been expected to appear alongside Wicked costar Jonathan Bailey.