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Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Searchlight PicturesThe Wicked the press tour is over, but Cynthia Erivo a Ariana Grande“Finger hold” finger grip will never die — just ask Timothée Chalamet a Elle Fanning.
The duo, who costar in Complete Anonymousdid an interview with The Advocateit’s you Tracy E. Gilchristotherwise known as the journalist who inspired the meme about “holding space” for the words “Defying Gravity.”
Gilchrist introduced himself to Chalamet and Fanning by joking, “First, I want to let you know I’m holding a spot for you.”
Fanning, 26, replied, “Thank you, I’m surprised!” Chalamet, 29, agreed with his costar’s assessment, adding, “Yes, I’m surprised.”
The pair then performed their version of Grande, 31,’s now-famous one-finger hold last month to Erivo, 37.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures“It is an honor to speak with you. I feel, like, some kind of star,” Chalamet continued. “I was like, ‘Holy s—, okay, this better be good.'”
Fanning admitted that she and Chalamet wouldn’t be able to top Erivo and Grande’s viral moment no matter what they did.
“There’s nothing we can do that can overcome what happened, you know what I mean?” Fanning said. “We can try.”
The “holding space” meme originated in November when Gilchrist interviewed Erivo and Grande during the seemingly endless Wicked press tour. The journalist, who memorably noted that she was “in queer media,” told the pair that she had seen people online “holding space” for the words “Defying Gravity”.
Erivo replied that she had not personally seen that happen but that she looked emotional as she said that is what she wanted fans to get. her performance as Elphaba. Meanwhile, Grande turned to offer support, but instead of holding a costar’s hand, she grabbed just one finger.
Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning can be seen on the set of the film ‘A Complete Unknown’.
Images Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GCGrande later admitted that she didn’t understand what was going on when the “hold the place” discussion was taking place.
“So I had no idea what any of it meant,” said the pop star Variety earlier this month. “I didn’t understand the first sentence. And then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening and how (Cynthia) reacted. I was like, ‘Oh, what did she say, what did you hear?’ And I wanted to be there because I knew something big was happening. And I didn’t know how to be there.”
Grande went on to say she grabbed Erivo’s finger because she thought “maybe her costar needed something” but admitted she didn’t know why she started tapping.
Like the rest of the internet, however, Grande loved the memes.
“I feel really proud that the world got to experience the same moment as I did, because I felt like, ‘Oh, I’m not broken,'” she quipped. “It’s really best to hold a place with that.”
