Jonathan Bennett: ‘Ariana Grande is one of the best’

Actor Jonathan Bennett has praised Ariana Grande as “one of the best” after reprising his Mean Girls role for the singer’s Thank U, Next video.
The 37-year-old screen star became a worldwide heartthrob after starring as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 teen romantic comedy. He’s just one of the familiar faces to make a cameo appearance in the video for Ariana’s latest musical offering, and told Entertainment Tonight he was more than a little excited to be involved.
“When you’re working with (Ariana) on set, she just… she brings that out in everyone, she wants to make sure that everyone is taken care of. It’s very rare,” he smiled. “Ariana is one of the best. She’s hands down one of the most gracious, beautiful people you’ll work with.”
And returning to his Aaron alter ego once again was a trip back in time for Jonathan.
“It brought me back. There was that moment when you’re sitting in the chair, they do your hair and makeup like Aaron Samuels, and they spin you around for the first time and you look in the mirror. That was the first time I saw him in 15 years, and it was like seeing an old friend. It takes you back to that time when life was just simpler,” he reminisced.
Ariana, 25, honoured her favourite movies in the music video, and Jonathan, now a cookbook author, welcomed her decision to entertain her fans – and herself – with the lighthearted video.
“It’s such a guilty pleasure video with all the craziness going on in the world, and especially all the craziness going on with Ariana the last couple months, this was something I think she needed for herself and for her fans,” he explained, before revealing being on set for the Thank U, Next video was similar to when he filmed Mean Girls.
“Being on set with her shooting, it was very similar to the way it was when we were shooting Mean Girls, where it’s just a bunch of kids. She reverted to a 16-year-old girl again, and was just… so full of life on set,” he added.
Jonathan also told TMZ that Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in the movie, was asked to star in Ariana’s video, but was forced to pull out due to other commitments.