Ariana Grande is stepping into a new character as she brings the world of Petal to life, with the pop star posting a teaser for a visual arriving on the same day as her new album in which she stars as an aspiring entertainer named Pepper.
In the retro-looking black-and-white clip shared Tuesday (July 28), Grande enters a waiting room and approaches a receptionist, who ignores her initially. “Hello, I’m Pepper. I’m here for the audition today,” she says perkily.
“You and everyone else, honey,” the receptionist says grumpily, telling Pepper to take a number and wait her turn.
The teaser doesn’t elaborate on what Grande’s new alter ego is auditioning for, but it does end with a slide displaying the date of Petal‘s release on Friday (July 31) and “shot entirely on VistaVision,” a wide-screen format that is commonly associated with films from the 1950s. It seemingly comes ahead of either a music video or short film that will accompany the Wicked star’s new LP.
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Grande previously created a cinematic universe around her most recent album, Eternal Sunshine, which dropped in 2024 and spent three weeks atop theBillboard 200. In the music videos for singles “The Boy Is Mine” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” as well as the Brighter Days Ahead short film, she played a character named Peaches who seeks memory-erasing treatment as a nod to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of Grande’s favorite movies.
So far, fans have heard only one track from Petal: “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Grande sings the single every night on her ongoing Eternal Sunshine Tour, which recently closed out three nights in Boston and will pick back up again soon in Montreal.
Watch Grande’s teaser and say hello to Pepper below.
