James Corden’s The Late Late Show assembled a nothing-short-of-fetch parody video of Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” starring Jeff Goldblum. The music video for Grande’s latest single, a love and let-go letter to her ex boyfriends and herself, broke records on YouTube with nearly 50 million hits in under 24 hours. Like the video for Iggy Azalea’s 2014 hit “Fancy,” which paid homage to Clueless, “Thank U, Next” encompasses some of the most iconic teen comedies of the last two decades, including Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, and Bring It On. Grande’s team managed to assemble an all-star cameo cast, including singer Troye Sivan, Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls), Elizabeth Gillies (Victorious), and Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde). Almost a week after its release, the video has been viewed over 125 million times.
Despite his notoriety for action-packed roles in the Jurassic Park and Independence Day franchises Goldblum has been having a lot of fun in recent years with animated hits like Isle of Dogs, and of course, playing The Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok. He’s appeared a number of successful YouTube parody videos, such as a monologue from the famous “Steamed Hams” scene from The Simpsons, in which he plays Principal Skinner, and a hilarious “Jeff Goldblum Reads Hilarious Thirst Tweets” reading. His latest self-examination is just about everything his fans could hope for.
Corden’s parody opens by revealing Goldblum, and launches right into a scene-for-scene lampooning of the music video, with Corden playing Grande. He goes on to thank Goldblum by singing about his extensive on-screen contributions, including doing Mean Girls’ famous Jingle Bell Rock scene with dinosaurs, while Goldblum videotapes as the “cool mom,” played by Kris Jenner in Grande’s tribute. Check out the full video below:
Grande herself praised the parody on Twitter, asking for a copy of the “Burn Book” parody entitled “thank u, Jeff.” The parody video has already been viewed over half a million times since its release yesterday.
Self-satire centered around big names has proven to be a guaranteed win among audiences, from Hillary Clinton’s appearance on the Murphy Brown reboot, to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s ongoing online shade throwing. Since late night talk shows are required to be as topical as possible, using a point of parody that’s so top of mind for a fan base proposes a long list of successful possibilities. In 2014, Kristen Bell starred in a Funny or Die parody entitled “Mary Poppins Quits.” With Bell’s fame having risen significantly since then, and Mary Poppins Returns coming to theaters this month, how would audiences respond if it were released today? Goldblum, at least, proves that a loving and loyal fan base combined with the hot topic of the day can go a very long way.
MORE: Jeff Goldblum Would Love for Marvel’s Grandmaster to Get His Own Movie
Source: The Late Late Show with James Corden
