Who was Ariana Grande's childhood crush? Story behind her album Eternal Sunshine explored

Ariana Grande, the singer-songwriter with seven billboard-topping studio albums to her name, has had a celebrity crush of her own. In her 2016 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, when Grande was asked to write down the name of his childhood crush, the singer said:

"This is a little embarrassing to actually write it down, everyone kind of knows."

She then wrote Jim Carrey's name on the notepad. It was, in fact, her feelings towards Jim Carrey that led Ariana Grande to create her seventh album - Eternal Sunshine - which was inspired by the 2004 Jim Carrey movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Carrey starred in the movie alongside Kate Winslet.

The 7 Rings singer also announced the release of her studio album on the birthday of her crush, Jim Carrey, on January 17.

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Ariana Grande's we can't be friends has glimpses of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A day before Ariana Grande's album Eternal Sunshine was set to premiere, her interview with Zane Lowe was released on Apple Music's YouTube channel. Talking about the movie from which her album's title was inspired as well as the actor starring in it, the 30-year-old revealed:

"I'm a massive Jim Carrey fan. I don't know if you know this, but my first screen name was JimCarreyFan42."

Further, Grande mentioned that she was "really young" when had first watched Carrey's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. When asked about her first face-to-face experience with her idol, the Positions singer called it "thrilling," admitting how Carrey "was even better" in person than she had imagined him to be. She further said:

“You know how sometimes you get nervous to meet your people, because you never know how they’re going to be and it’s very scary? He couldn’t be better. I love him so much more after meeting him.”

Opening up about drawing inspiration from Carrey's movie for not just the title but also the concept of her album, Ariana Grande confessed:

"I think the movie is so beloved because so many people can relate to knowing that something isn’t right but loving so much and wanting to stay."

Grande also remarked on how the theme and ideas of the movie had impacted not one but almost all of her album's tracks, saying:

“I think it kind of fell into place that these songs had little tidbits of that theme. I just felt really inspired by it.”

However, if we had to pick a track with the most resemblance to the movie, it would be we can't be friends, the second single Ariana released from her latest album.

The track pays homage to the concept of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the movie, Joel (played by Carrey) and Clementine (played by Winslet) both decide to get each others' memories erased after their relationship doesn't work out.

The music video of we can't be friends has a similar theme as it opens with Grande sitting outside an office, where she later goes to get her memories altered. All of her costumes in the video have been inspired by Winslet's look as Clementine. The singer-songwriter also assumes the fruit-based name "Peaches" in it, just like the name of Winslet's character in the film.

One particular scene in the music video, where Grande is seen lying on the snow-covered ground to Evan Peters (her co-star), making snow angels, takes after Joel and Clementine lying on a frozen lake in the movie.

The song debuted at the top of Billboard Hot 100 soon after its release, making Ariana's seventh number-one on the chart, with its music video amassing 129 million views on YouTube.

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Ariana Grande has tattooed her favorite Jim Carrey quote from The Truman Show

Ariana Grande's admiration for Jim Carrey isn't limited to just Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Grande also admires his acting in other movies, one of which is the 1998 comedy, The Truman Show.

The Thank U, Next singer even has Carrey's lines from the movie tattooed (upside down) on her left shoulder, reading:

"In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

Besides the tattoo, the Grammy-winner has also featured the iconic stairs from the movie in the visuals of her fourth studio album, Sweetener.