Fame came fast for Inde Navarrette this year, and when the pressure of it all gets to be too much, she has one very specific place she goes to reset. It turns out that place doubles as one of the highest compliments a young pop star can receive.
Navarrette became one of 2026’s breakout names off the back of Obsession, the horror film that turned a modest budget into a box office run north of $400 million. Since then, she has been everywhere, taking meetings with Marvel, talking X-Men with director Jake Schreier, and sitting down for a run of press stops that includes Variety’s Up Next series.
It was during that kind of conversation that Navarrette started talking about the people who keep her grounded, and one name kept coming up.
Inde Navarrette Says Zara Larsson Reminds Her of a Young Britney Spears
Navarrette named Zara Larsson as the person she turns to whenever the spotlight starts to feel like too much.
“Zara Larsson is somebody that like if it ever feels too big I will go to her page and I will be like we are girls having fun,” Navarrette said. “She is awesome. I also love, like, she has been in the game for a while, she has been pushing for a while, and she has her moment. She is doing everything she can to keep it, and that reminds me of watching all the behind the scenes of, like, bring experience saying her, doing what she is doing. And I love you, Zara.”
That is Navarrette putting Larsson in the same lane as a young Britney Spears, a pop star who has logged nearly two decades in the industry and is only now being treated like the moment truly belongs to her.
It tracks with where Larsson’s own year has gone. The Swedish singer has been leaning hard into her Britney lineage, from covering Gimme More on her Midnight Sun Tour to dropping into a split during the song’s performance on Tate McRae‘s Miss Possessive Tour, a clip that racked up 1.5 million views.
In April, she teamed with Tyla for She Did It Again, trading a lyric that name-checks Britney directly over a Y2K-soaked video. Larsson also picked up her first Grammy nomination this year, for Midnight Sun in the Best Dance Pop Recording category.
For Navarrette, the connection is less about the aesthetics and more about the longevity, watching someone who has been grinding for years finally get her due. Larsson’s Midnight Sun Tour runs through October 26, giving fans plenty of chances to see the comparison play out live.