Did you know she is a published author?
BY BETHAN RUSH, IMAGE BY FLICKR
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is definitely not shy of the stage. From Broadway to Big Screen, she is a trailblazer for Black, queer women in the arts. She is not shy of taking on powerful roles, starring as both Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. Here are six things you may not know about the queer icon.
Her debut TV role was in the comedy series Chewing Gum
Cynthia Erivo, the Grammy and Tony award-winning actor, singer and songwriter gained global recognition after starring in the Broadway hit The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017. Before this, she featured in the TV series Chewing Gum by Michaela Coel.
She moved into the film industry with projects like Widows and Bad Times At The El Royale, as well as a biopic based on the life of Harriet Tubman, where her song Stand Up was in the soundtrack for the film.
Elphaba in Wicked is her latest venture alongside co-star Ariana Grande which is set to release in November.
She shaved her head for the role of Elphaba in Wicked
She decided to “sacrifice her hair so that it would look flawless”. This ensured the green paint would look as unblemished on camera as possible when blending into her hairline.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, she said: “I want to be perceived as the woman who takes the hard route. I want to find the stories that people don’t get to see very often, and I want to mine the characters for the complexity that women have.”
She was raised by a single-parent
She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2010. She and her sister were raised by their mother, Edith, after her parents separated when she was young.
She is a queer and proud
The actor spoke at Los Angles LGBT Centre Gala saying it’s “a privilege to be on this stage tonight because for so long I lived in deep admiration of anyone who could fully embody their true, authentic self, wear their queerness like a feather boa and proudly say, This is a beautiful part of who I am.”
Erivo is a published author
She released a children’s book titled Remember To Dream, Ebere in 2020. It is a book about a mother and daughter and the dreams they build together.
She is a proud Nigerian
Born to two Nigerian parents she is often seen incorporating Nigeran fashion into both her everyday outfits and her red carpet looks.
In an interview she said: “I love the idea of being an example to young women and women of colour, showing them that there are so many different characters we can play and not to be afraid of that.”
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I love Cynthia Erivo cuz I think she is so beautiful and so sexy. I absolutely love her work and her beautiful singing! She’s that good of a singer that it gives me goosebumps she an amazing person I respect her that she is today, i definitely put my inner Elphaba vibe in my heart and I’m insanely and madly in love with her voice.