Ariana Grande‘s tales from the Focker-In-Law set are delighting fans all over again as the Meet the Parents sequel’s November release approaches, headlined by an image nobody saw coming: Robert De Niro, 82, crushing pre-dawn workouts and coaching the pop star through burpees.
“I spent yesterday doing burpees and high knees with Robert De Niro, and he’s like, ‘Good job, Olivia. Good job,’” Grande told Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast. “It’s the craziest… I’m like, ‘What is this movie? What are we doing?’ But I’m having a blast.”
Harder Than Wicked? ‘I’m Not Kidding’
The revelation came when Poehler assumed the comedy would be “a lot less physically exhausting than Wicked.” Grande’s correction was emphatic: “No. I’m not kidding. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but I have to say it because you’re gonna laugh your ass off, my character’s a triathlete.”
She elaborated on Olivia Jones’s athletic résumé: “She’s a lot of things. But a triathlete is one of them. There’s also a lot of biking in this movie.” For context, Grande spent the Wicked films corseted in nearly every costume:
“The only looks that I had that weren’t corseted were my pajamas.”
De Niro’s 3:30 AM Routine
The set’s fitness culture apparently starts at the top. Grande compared the environment to a superhero production: “I feel like I’m on the set of the Avengers. Between him and Bob, Mr. De Niro…”
When Poehler asked whether De Niro was really running in the mornings, Grande confirmed the octogenarian’s schedule:
“Yes! At like, 4, 3:30,” adding her own gentler counterpoint: “But I do love a good morning Pilates moment.” She also crowned director-star Ben Stiller, who was 59 during filming, “an Olympian.”
What Is Focker-In-Law?
The fourth Meet the Parents film, arriving 15-plus years after Little Fockers, flips the franchise’s premise: Stiller’s Greg Focker now plays the suspicious elder as his son (Skyler Gisondo) brings home fiancée Olivia, Grande’s strong-willed character, with John Hamburg directing and De Niro, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo returning alongside newcomer Beanie Feldstein.
The first trailer opened with a nod to the original’s most famous scene, Grande strapped to De Niro’s polygraph, and features a competitive family bike race in matching pink shirts, presumably the fruit of all those burpees. Stiller has explained the timing:
“I’m the age that Bob was when we did the first movie… my kid is thinking about introducing his person to the family.”
From the Circle of Trust to Theaters
Grande, who called the shoot “unimaginably special” and posted a farewell to “my Fockers and my Byrnes” after wrapping, filmed the comedy amid a colossal stretch: Wicked: For Good, her announced Eternal Sunshine tour, and now franchise-torchbearer status in one of comedy’s most beloved series.
Focker-In-Law hits theaters November 25, 2026, when audiences can finally judge whether the triathlon training and De Niro’s 3:30 a.m. alarm paid off.
Ariana Grande says Robert De Niro was doing burpees with her and working out before 4 AM
Amy Poehler: “It’s probably a lot less physically exhausting than Wicked”
Ariana: “It’s not. I’m not kidding. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but I have to say it because you’re… pic.twitter.com/2Dohc7IQwY
— sara (@saradotxyz) July 16, 2026
FAQ
What did Ariana Grande say about Robert De Niro’s workouts?
The 82-year-old runs at “like, 4, 3:30” in the morning and did burpees and high knees alongside her on set, encouraging her: “Good job, Olivia.”
Why is Focker-In-Law so physical?
Grande’s character Olivia Jones is a triathlete, with “a lot of biking” in the film, making it, she insists, no easier than Wicked.
Who does Grande play?
Olivia Jones, the fiancée of Greg and Pam Focker’s son (Skyler Gisondo), is tested by De Niro’s polygraph in the trailer’s opening scene.
When does Focker-In-Law come out?
November 25, 2026, directed by John Hamburg, with Stiller, De Niro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner returning.
Where did Grande share these stories?
On Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the podcast episode whose clips keep resurfacing as the release nears.
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Last Updated on July 16, 2026 by 247 News Around The World
