Nov 7
Watch: Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande Dish on 'SNL' Kiss with 'Too Much' Mouth
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Big-screen "Wicked" co-stars Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande met on the small screen in an episode of "SNL" last month, where they ad libbed a kiss that was a little more extra than they intended.
"The particular sketch in question, titled 'Charades With Mom,' saw Grande play a mother meeting her son's boyfriend, Yang, for the first time," The Daily Beast related.
"When they all sit down for a game of charades, things go off the rails between the two characters," leading to "fisticuffs and a kiss – which wasn't planned, according to Grande and Yang."
Telling Yang's character she was glad he "stood up to me" and that her son needed a strong partner "because my son is so, so weak, and I don't have any respect for him," Grande swept in for a lip-lock and Yang unhesitatingly followed her lead as the studio audience roared.
Looking back on the moment on the Nov. 6 episode of Yang's podcast "Las Culturistas," Grande disclosed that she had the idea for the kiss during a rehearsal, thinking, "How funny would it be if we kissed at the end?'"
Grande worried that she might come across to the show's players as "absolutely insane and too comfortable" if she followed her instincts for the sketch – but, when it came to the actual moment, that didn't stop her.
"It felt like what these people needed at that time," Grande explained. "It felt like what these characters required. I'm all for it."
Yang was all for it... maybe, the comedian suggested on the podcast, a bit too much so.
Pivoting abruptly from a discussion of their favorite horror movies, Yang said, "Um, just to switch gears – I really have to apologize to you in person," an abashed Yang told Grande.
"For what?" Grande asked.
"I opened up my mouth too much when we kissed on 'SNL,'" Yang said, as co-host Matt Rogers gasped.
"You absolutely did!" Grande replied with a twinkle.
"Really?!" Rogers exclaimed.
"I was shaking after," Grande said. "No, no, no, no, not in a bad way," she added. "Just in a disarming way."
Would that be adjacent to shaking in a demure and mindful way?
"The chemistry was so good," Rogers interjected.
"Oh my gosh, thank you," Grande said. "I mean, it comes from a real place."
Watch Grande's appearance on Yang's podcast below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
