Brunette Ariana Grande Has Entered the Chat

With Ari, it’s clear that she fully takes on whatever character she’s obsessed with at the moment. We saw this with Glinda the Good Witch. Grande flows with the wind, she’s a lover and a romantic. She’s a Cancer. Some fan Reddit threads even go deep into her Zodiac chart, with commenters attributing her “struggle with identity” to her “Neptune conjunct ascendant” placement.

Now, she will be taking on her next role and it will be darker. Last Friday on Halloween (fittingly), Ryan Murphy announced the cast of American Horror Story: Season 13, which will bring back the series’ OG cast members like Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, and yes, Ariana Grande.

A day before the announcement, Grande posted a mirror selfie with freshly brunette hair and the caption, “it’s good to see me, isn’t it?” Whether it was meant as a Glinda goodbye, an AHS Easter egg, or a wink to fans who’ve been manifesting the Dangerous Woman version of her, the timing couldn’t have been more poetic. In the comments, stans immediately flooded her feed with nostalgia, calling it “2016-coded” and celebrating the return of “brunette Ari,” a version synonymous with latex bunny ears, breakup anthems, and unbothered pop-star confidence.

And honestly, it tracks. “I love projects that scare the living hell out of me,” Grande said in a recent podcast with Evan Ross Katz. “I was terrified to put my album out, every time.” Whether it’s Wicked, Eternal Sunshine, or now American Horror Story, Grande has always gravitated toward roles that stretch her beyond what fans expect — and if the internet’s right about this new “dark era,” she might be stepping into her boldest self yet.

Image via Getty