Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next' BTS Video Gets Right To The Heart of the Song's Message

The "Thank U, Next" video already broke YouTube's record for the most views in 24 hours, and people's interest in the jam is showing no signs of slowing down. On Sunday, Ariana Grande shared the "Thank U, Next" behind-the-scenes video, and it gets right to the heart of the song's empowering message. The BTS look is almost ten-minutes long, and it's just the first part of the longer video about what went into making the project a reality.

"Thank U, Next" brought together scenes from four iconic movies from the early 2000s, including Legally Blonde, 13 Going on 30, Bring it On, and Mean Girls. In addition to showing how the collaborations and choreography came together, Grande discussed the inspiration behind the video.

The "God Is a Woman" singer made it clear that she chose these films because they feature the characters that inspired the women she and her friends are today. Many of these pals were featured in the video, emphasizing how watching these movies was a bonding experience for the women. She introduced the video, by saying: "We are basically recreating a bunch of my favorite scenes from classic, girly early 2000s, '90s movies that have shaped and molded so many of us into the strong and intelligent, but still playful and girly women that we are today."

In the music video, Grande takes on some of the iconic characters from the films. She's Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, Torrance from Bring It On, Regina George in Mean Girls, and Jenna Rink from 13 Going on 30. In order to capture the spirit of the movies, Grande brought several original cast members on set. Jonathan Bennett, who played Aaron Samuels in the original Mean Girls, had a cameo along with his co-star Stefanie Drummond.

Jennifer Coolidge's appearance was one of the most significant cameos in the video, reprising her role as Paulette from Legally Blonde. "We have the incredible Jennifer Coolidge, which is so insane" Grande said in the BTS video. "I grew up adoring her, Best In Show and Legally Blonde are two of my all time favorite movies mainly because of her in them." The comedic actor appeared in the music video's only non-musical scene, where she and Grande seem to be making innuendos but are actually just having a funny conversation about teeth.

It turns out that the fandom is mutual — Coolidge had nothing but good things to say about the singer and song in the BTS video. "I love Ariana Grande, because this is the essence of who she is," Coolidge said. "All these young girls hear the song and the message, it's a strong woman's message that you don't have to destroy yourself over men. You can date men, and when it goes wrong, you benefit from the hardship and move on."

The Legally Blonde actor went on to discuss how meaningful the song would have been when she was younger. "When I was growing up, there weren't messages like this, and there weren't strong female songs like this," she said. "Where the message was just so clear to a young girl, like you don't have to feel crappy about a relationship that's gone wrong. This is just such a good song and such a good message, and I wish there were more of these."

As Coolidge and Grande both illustrate so beautifully in the BTS video, "Thank U, Next" is so much more than a great pop song — it's a beautiful message that every woman is enough all on her own.