Pop sensation and actress Ariana Grande recently opened up about her time as a child star working for Nickelodeon in an interview on the “Podcrushed” podcast with Penn Badgley. Grande shared details about the experience and how specific lasting effects from this time spread into her career.
Ariana Grande reflects on her experience as a Nickelodeon child star:
“My relationship to it is and has been changing. I’m reprocessing a lot of what the experience was like. I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting.” pic.twitter.com/qF1bZqYYTw
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 12, 2024
Now 28, Grande entered the entertainment scene as 15-year-old Cat Valentine on the popular show “Victorious.” Considering those times, Grande was very open about what went into making the show work and some of the struggles.
“We thought the cool thing about us was that we were pushing the envelope with our humor,” Grande said. “But looking back at some of the clips now, I’m like, ‘Damn, really?'”
However, her reaction to recent allegations of a hostile workplace environment on Nickelodeon sets is most notable. Grande said this was accurate but also noted the positive changes within the industry of the Golden Globe winner himself.
“The culture is changing to become more understanding of these experiences,” Grande said of the experience. “It’s a nice place to see the world.”
Now, Grande feels strongly about child stars having a safe environment in which to work.
“I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to act,” she said. “There should be therapists, and parents should be allowed to be wherever they want.” And this is across the board: “I think therapy should be mandatory in contracts for anybody having to deal with any of this kind of pressure.”.
She also took a moment to signal her support for survivors who have recently shared their stories of struggling. “There’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear about,” she said. “The environment just needs to be made safer all around.”
The interview depicted her strong passion for her fans and for producing and delivering meaningful content in every role she takes. She, for instance, explained the essentials of solid lyrics that help connect her audience to her music.
“We feel so privileged to have been able to create those roles and be a part of something so special for many young kids,” Grande says. I think we’re reprocessing our relationship to it a little now.”
Of course, Grande’s latest collaboration with Penn Badgley in her music video “Eternal Sunshine” coincides with this artistic growth and closeness with her audience. It seems that the “Wicked” star can’t be stopped on her path of producing music and enacting roles through which she always tries to make the environment safer and more supportive for people in the industry.
As the chat with Badgley concluded, Grande wrapped things up optimistically for what was to come.
“It’s changing, and I think that’s a nice place to see the world,” she says. “We feel so privileged to have created those roles and be a part of something so special for many young kids.”
Through the reflections shared above, pop sensation Ariana Grande reflects on what it means to grow up amidst sunshine and relentless attention from the world and earnestly fight for better mental health care and safe working conditions. Her journey from Nickelodeon’s child star to a global megastar inspires all. To wit, against all odds and challenges, she emerges- as a resilient, passionate artiste- to make her mark in a positive way in the world at large.
