Ariana Grande held on to Cynthia Erivo’s long fingernail in an interview this week and the viral clip has been making rounds on social media.
During an interview on Tuesday, November 19th, the Wicked co-stars were told that several queer fans on social media were “taking the lyrics of Defying Gravity and really holding space with that and feeling power in that.”
“I didn’t know that was happening,” Erivo, 37, told Out Magazine. “That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted,” she added, looking over at Grande, 31.
“I think that it’s really important for [Elphaba] in that moment to not allow the things that have hurt her, that have stripped her of her humanity, to keep her down,” she continued, referring to her character’s musical.
While she was talking, the Disney alum gently took hold of her long, green fingernail, which was a nod to her character Elphaba and lightly tapped it, as a gesture of compassion and support.
Fans had a lot to say about the gesture and it went viral over social media. One wrote, “I’ve officially been thinking about ariana holding cynthia’s nail for a full day, I see this image every time I close my eyes.”
Another chimed in, “I genuinely cant stop laughing at this. Every time I see it I burst into giggles.”
A third wrote, “So haunted by the image of Ariana Grande reaching out a trembling hand to grasp Cynthia Erivo’s single finger.”
Another found themselves “mesmerised” by the video, “I’m completely mesmerized by this clip … it’s almost like they are speaking a language I don’t understand, I can’t catch the sense of it for a single moment. I’m not understanding the words or the feelings or the energy at all. It’s amazing.”
Wicked came out on Friday in theatres.
