Every Ariana Grande Movie & TV Show: From Victorious to Wicked: Part Two
Gifted with one of the most impressive vocal ranges of any modern star, Ariana Grande is probably best known as a ponytailed pop sensation who’s been dazzling the music world for 15 years now. All that said, while she might have long dominated the worlds’ stages as a star musician, she actually got her start as an actor on Nickelodeon, and has since branched out into film.
Of course, Grande’s most recent starring role was as the good witch Glinda in Jon M Chu’s juggernaut adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, and its recently released sequel, Wicked: for Good. Read on to learn more about Ariana Grande’s movies and TV shows and use the guide below to find out where to stream them on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.
When she was still just 17-years-old, Ariana Grande got her first big start playing the sweet but somewhat dim Cat Valentine on the popular (pop-u-lar) Nickelodeon series Victorious, which aired on the channel from 2010 to 2013.
Few would claim that the series, which takes place in a performing arts school (think iCarly meets Fame), is a classic, but if you’re a big Grande fan you’ll probably get a real kick out of seeing her natural charisma here in a more raw form — even as a side character, she easily steals the show.
I have to presume that the series creator of Victorious (who was also behind Zoey 101 and Drake & Josh) felt the same way about Grande, as a spinoff series starring the future pop sensation began directly after Victorious finished its three year run.
The spinoff was titled Sam & Cat and saw Grande continue in the role of Cat Valentine opposite Jennette McCurdy’s Sam Puckett. The show follows the two young women as they move in together and start a babysitter business.
With the release of her Billboard chart-topping debut album, Yours Truly, 2013 turned out to be a landmark year for the young star. Along with that and Sam & Cat, Grande also appeared in Swindle, her very first TV movie.
The story follows a group of teenagers who attempt to retrieve a valuable baseball card from a crooked collector. This is basically a heist movie made for Nickelodeon audiences, so if you like the idea of seeing Cat and Sam (McCurdy also stars) in an Ocean’s Eleven style farce, you’ll probably dig it.
Grande understandably took a break from acting once her music career began to skyrocket, but in 2016, around the time of the release of her third album, she lent her now world famous voice to the English language version of Underdogs.
Funnily enough, this animated movie about a table football player (voiced in English by Nicolas Hoult) and his team was Juan José Campanella’s followup to his Oscar winning breakthrough, The Secret in their Eyes—so if you happen to be a fan of that movie and also enjoy Pixar’s Toy Story and Ratatouille, this might be up your street.
Grande finally got her first taste of musical fame in 2016 when she played Penny Pingleton in Hairspray Live!, NBC’s live television performance of John Waters’ classic Broadway musical — and if you like the legendary John Travolta-starring original, or appreciate Waters’ more PG13 work, you should definitely give it a shot!
The role gave Grande the chance to work no only with Jennifer Hudson, comedy legend Martin Short and musical theatre legend Kristin Chenoweth, but also a young Billy Eichner.
In addition to her television and film roles, Ariana Grande has also had two documentaries made about her. Released in 2018, Ariana Grande: Dangerous Woman Diaries is a four-part docuseries that offers fans a behind the scenes look at her Dangerous Woman tour.
As well as showing Grande perform (including the moving One Love Manchester show following the bombing at her concert in 2017) and interact with her team, the doc follows her as she records her then-upcoming Sweeteners album. If you appreciate Grande’s music and like docs like Miss Americana and The World’s a Little Blurry you’ll wanna see it.
Two years after Dangerous Woman Diaries, Grande released Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You, a close-up look at her London performance during her subsequent Sweeteners world tour.
Focusing on one performance, Excuse Me is a more contained documentary than its predecessor, but if you like single-show performance docs like Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids, you might actually prefer this one!
Five years and three hugely successful albums after her appearance in Hairspray Live!, Grande tentatively returned to the screen with a small but memorable role in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, an eco-disaster movie that also worked as a hilarious satire.
Appearing opposite A-list stars like Timothée Chalamet and Jennifer Lawrence, Grande played the role of pop star Riley Bina — and if you like the idea of seeing the singer play an exaggerated version of herself, and also like McKay’s other movies (think The Big Short, Vice), you’ll probably have a good time.
In 2024, Grande played her biggest role to date as the good witch Glinda in the live-action adaptation of Wicked, opposite Cynthia Erivo — an actress who she immediately had chemistry with, both on-screen and on the movie’s legendary press tour.
Directed by Jon M Chu, Wicked was a quick sensation (imagine a mix of Cruella and The Wizard of Oz and you’ll know what to expect), making $750 million at the box office and earning Grande a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards.
Released earlier this year, Brighter Days Ahead is a “visual companion” to Grande’s 2024 album Eternal Sunshine. This short movie, which is made in a style reminiscent of science fiction movie, is also Grande’s directorial debut — and if you’re curious what that might look like, you should probably give it a look!
This one will likely appeal to fans of Grande’s music who also enjoyed Beyonce’s Lemonade.
