Watch Ariana Grande and Dana Carvey channel Jennifer Coolidge on ‘SNL’
Maybe she’s born with it… or maybe she’s Ariana Grande in disguise.
The “Eternal Sunshine” singer returned to host this week’s Saturday Night Live for the first time since 2016 — and it wouldn’t be a proper Grande homecoming if she didn’t show off her celebrity impressions.
In one particularly hilarious sketch, she channeled her good friend Jennifer Coolidge. But why settle for one Coolidge when we can have three?
That’s right, the show didn’t just ask Grande to bust out her proven Coolidge impersonation — it also called on Chloe Fineman and SNL legend Dana Carvey to don huge blonde wigs, pink robes, and their best dramatic pouts.
The sketch began with Fineman’s Coolidge talking to herself in the mirror and her reflection (played by Grande) responding as she prepared for a date, putting on a Maybelline lip gloss with a name she couldn’t seem to remember for a new commercial. Is it “super-stay long-wear liquid lip color,” “long-wear liquid lip color,” or perhaps just “liquid lip-long lip”? In the end, they had more important topics to discuss.
“What are we going to talk about on our date?” asked Grande as Coolidge.
Fineman’s Coolidge was stumped. “I don’t know. What’s a good conversation starter?”
After a pause, Grande replied, “Lemons.”
“Heck, yes,” said Fineman. “What topics should we avoid?”
Grande’s Coolidge gave it some thought, then said, “Fish.”
“The band or the animal?” asked Fineman.
Taken aback, Grande’s Coolidge responded, “There’s an animal called Phish?”
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The banter continued along those lines, though at one point Grande needed a minute to collect herself, breaking character to laugh before quickly getting back on track. Soon enough, they were joined by a third Coolidge, as Fineman extended the mirror to reveal a third window and Carvey emerged.
“Wow!” said Carvey’s Coolidge. ‘Thank God you opened the mirror! I’ve been trapped in here for years.”
Carvey then proposed that the trio apply more of the “long-wear liquid lip color long-lasting mouth magic.”
As they gathered to complete the faux ad by applying lip gloss to one another, Carvey and Grande could be seen giggling in the background as the sketch devolved.
Coolidge wasn’t the only celeb who got the spoof treatment during Grande’s SNL visit. She has a reputation as an ace celebrity impersonator, but the pop star promised to keep things very relaxed in her monologue, telling the crowd, “I am just hosting. I’m not going to make this about me. I’m just going to have fun, take it easy, and keep it low-key.”
But after she accepted the microphone, she immediately launched into pitch-perfect impressions of other singers, including Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Gwen Stefani. Later in the night, she embodied Celine Dion to parody a UFC fighting promo to the tune of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.”
Check out Grande’s impression range in the SNL clips above.