Adam McKay Gushes Over Ariana Grande And Kid Cudi’s Acting Performances In ‘Don’t Look Up’

Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi’s involvement with Don’t Look Up doesn’t stop at their song “Just Look Up,” as they also have substantial parts in the film. Furthermore, Adam McKay has heaped praise on the two for their performances in the movie.

McKay said of Grande, “It made sense to have the biggest pop star in the world play the biggest pop star in the world. We got her on set for her first scene with [Leonardo DiCaprio] and [Jennifer Lawrence], and she’s improvising lines. I knew she’d nail the song, but I didn’t know she could improvise.”

He spoke more about Grande’s improvisational skills in a recent video from Netflix about the movie’s improv, starting at 4:19 into the video.

Grande also offered a quote about McKay, saying, “Adam’s one of my comedy heroes. I was jumping out of my skin when he pitched me the idea of playing this pop star in this yucky tabloid frenzy. Playing this little part and getting to work with Adam and this beyond incredible cast was such a special experience.”

McKay also had compliments for Cudi, saying, “[I] knew who Kid Cudi was, but in meeting Scott Mescudi, I was completely taken aback. He can really act. He was immediately natural on set and such a humble guy. Scott was incredibly open and collaborative.”

Of course, it makes sense that both Cudi and Grande would be comfortable on a set, as they’ve both spent plenty of time in that environment. Before music, Grande was known for playing the character Cat Valentine in two Nickelodeon series, Victorious and Sam & Cat. As for Cudi, he been in the main cast of shows like How To Make It In America, Comedy Bang! Bang!, and We Are Who We Are.