Ever since Meet The Parents, the central tension of the Focker-verse (as nobody is calling it) has been between two greats: all-timer Robert De Niro, and comedy legend Ben Stiller. Now, 16 years after trilogy-closer Little Fockers, the series is back with Focker-In-Law, which adds an unexpected new ingredient into the heavyweight mix: Ariana Grande. This time, Ben Stiller’s Greg (aka Gaylord) Focker is the mistrustful parent unsure of his son’s new beau, Grande’s CIA hostage negotiator Olivia. And, of course, De Niro’s Jack instantly takes a shine to her, upping the awkwardness.
As it turns out, Grande was the perfect person to face off against Stiller and De Niro. “She very smoothly went toe-to-toe with Ben and got right in there with De Niro and the rest of the ensemble. She brought so much,” director John Hamburg tells Empire. She was, he says “a filmmaker’s dream. She pushed me to rewrite and make her character as good as possible.” All this despite blockbuster movies still being relatively new territory for her. “I can't believe she's been in as few movies as she's been in,” says Hamburg. “She made a joke to me: ‘John, I've been in two movies and they're both called Wicked.’”
De Niro describes Grande as “terrific”, while Stiller said she’s “the only person who could have played that role” – noting that she found several sides to Olivia’s character. “She really understands how to be both someone who is Type A and strong-willed, but also be a foil for Greg and able to play that back and forth. And then you're also rooting for her too, and that's a hard line to walk,” Stiller enthuses. “I really believed her as this character. She has great timing and just has this amazing thing on screen where she emanates something you want to watch. It's cool to work with someone like that, in the same way like with De Niro – somebody just has something and they bring it.” Ready to meet the new Focker in town?
Read Empire’s oral history of the Focker franchise in the Dune: Part Three issue, on sale Thursday October 22. Pre-order a copy online here. Focker-In-Law comes to cinemas from November 25.