Sabrina Carpenter Fell In Love With Paul McCartney After Hearing "Rocky Raccoon"

WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

MY NEXT GUEST IS A SINGER-SONGWRITER WHO WAS NOMINATED FOR SIX GRAMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST NEW ARTIST.

SHE JUST RELEASED A NEW HOLIDAY SPECIAL, A NONSENSE CHRISTMAS WITH SABRINA CARPENTER.

If you're hot and you're young and your stocking's well hung by the chimney with care, it's the most nonsense time of the year.

They'll be singing and jesting, celebrity guesting, huge packages under the tree.

I'll be playing my bangers with elf doppelgangers, so please, please, please have faith in me.

Please welcome to The Late Show, Sabrina Carpenter.

There you go.

Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you.

So lovely.

Thanks for having me.

Oh, my goodness.

Well, you got all the Grammy nominations.

As I said, I thought we should kick off with a little toast to that.

In honor of Mi Espresso, how would you like an espresso martini?

I would love that.

Wow.

There you go.

Cheers.

Thank you.

Has that been sitting there?

No, it's cold.

I just brought it here moments ago, yeah.

I have fresh ones made between every act of the show.

Wow.

That's tasty.

That is very good.

This is gonna be a good interview.

Should we do a chugging contest?

Sure.

I win?

That's so terrifying, how fast you drank that.

Well, these deaths come at a price.

Okay, you're nominated for a whopping six Grammys.

We got Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

That is...

That is not too shabby for your first time being nominated.

Is this also gonna be your first time attending?

This is, I'm very drunk now.

Let me take that away for you, there you go.

This actually truly is my first time.

I always told myself that I never wanted to go until I was nominated and I didn't think it would be for all those

categories, which is really special, so I'm excited.

I know, that must be crazy for you.

You're just on a rocket ride right now.

Are you taking the time to enjoy what's happening with you this year?

Because some people and very few people get to go through what you're going through right now, and it's really important to take the time and enjoy it.

When you're young, you sort of just vibe it out.

Like you don't really, I don't know how to describe it.

It's like when it's happening, I probably in five years will look back on like this moment and be like, wow,

So much happened at once, but it's hard to process it in the moment.

I'm just trying to make eye contact with you and be, like, as present as I can.

Do you know what I mean?

You're doing it.

Yeah.

But I feel so lucky.

Singing is all I've ever wanted to do.

Writing songs is my favorite thing in the world, so the fact that I could do it and people listen is sentimental, but it's a gift, so I'm very grateful.

Well, you seem appreciative of the gift.

Thank you!

Well, you're up for Song of the Year for your song, Please, Please, Please.

And is it true that the Beatles inspired you to start writing your own music?

So technically, when I was very, very young, my dad played me Rocky Raccoon for the first time.

And I was so mesmerized by that song and the songwriting of it

that I fell in love with Paul McCartney.

I was convinced that was my husband, my future husband.

But he was quite old, and I was so young, I didn't understand that he was much older than me, because I was looking at all these photos.

I was like, no, he's young.

He's, like, young.

He's only, like, 10 years older than me.

I didn't understand math.

I was a child.

So when I grew up, I just fell in love with his songwriting.

And when you grew up... Yeah, and then I met him in a... You met him.

There you go.

There you are with Paul.

That's nice.

Yeah.

Would you guys...

I'm just curious, when you meet somebody like Paul McCartney, not that there are a lot of people like Paul McCartney, what do you talk about?

So I just actually formed tears in my eyes.

And then he was just so normal and casual and was so charming.

And it just felt like I was kind of entering like an alternate universe, like the Upside Down vibes.

You know what I mean?

Like Stranger Things, but a lot happier than Stranger Things.

A little bit.

Just a little bit happier than Stranger Things.

But he was so sweet.

And the one thing I say about him is every room that he enters, he makes everyone feel seen and heard.

And it was such a beautiful experience for me to see that.

from someone that I admired so much, and it just, yeah, eh, he's great.

Yeah, I'm obsessed with him.

Well, you've got a new special on Netflix, as we showed in the clip, A Nonsense Christmas, which I like.

I've got a pitch for you, because in honor of me espresso, have you thought about possibly

That would be... You don't have to chug this one.

Just something, you know, for the publicity tour.

There you go.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm.

Yeah.

You know, I hadn't thought about it... until now, and it's already shot, and it's out.

Damn it!

Mm.

I'm gonna take this away.

That's really good, wow.

It is.

Do you not with the nog?

It's a simple question, Ms. Carpenter.

Do you not with the nog?

Are you surprised that I used a bad word?

Is that what it is?

No, I'm not, because they told me I can curse backstage, and I forgot, because usually people are telling me not to curse, and so I came out here, and it looks like a church a little bit in here.

It really does, doesn't it?

I was like, don't curse the lords upon us, and I was like, I shouldn't do that.

And you just did that.

I just did do that, yeah.

with the nog, now that you mention it.

Well, you should.

Thank you.

Well, you should.

I tell you, one of the things I love about your special is you got one of my favorite actors to play Santa.

This is, you are sitting on the lap of none other than Samwise Gamgee, Sean Astin, right there.

He's amazing.

What was it like to work with Sean?

It was such a gift.

I mean, unfortunately, I met him already dressed as Santa.

So I never saw him.

He always dresses like that.

Oh.

Well, I mean, I never saw his original form.

Go on.

Go on.

Go on.

No, I understand.

That's his final form.

His final form, exactly.

For me, that's all I know him as, is Santa.

Do you know Miss Samwise Gamgee?

You ever seen Lord of the Rings?

Have you ever seen the Lord of the Rings movie?

Answer the question.

Do you want to know how I knew him?

How?

In Stranger Things.

Oh, yeah, he's great in Stranger Things.

Speaking of the upside down.

So for me, I was like, Bob wants to be Santa?

Like, that's epic.

But you are from a different generation.

And...

I love you so much.

I am from a different, I'm actually from two generations ahead of you.

Exactly, I know Sean mostly from Rudy.

Do you know Rudy?

Rudy.

Yeah, Rudy.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And he was Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.

Tolkien.

All I know is he's so good as Santa.

And genuinely, he was just such a delight.

He told me that his daughters really, really persuaded him to do it.

Because he was going to say no?

No, I don't think that.

I think he just was, at first, he was like, oh, what is this?

And they were like, if you don't do this, like...

like your whole career's over vibe.

And I was like, and I was like, well, they're not like wrong.

I mean, it's just, it's different.

It's soothing.

It must be nice to know that you have children threatening their parents.

That's all I have.

Sabrina, thank you so much for being here.

Her Grammy nominated album, Short and Sweet is out now.

Sabrina Carpenter, everybody.

We'll be right back.