Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo (/əˈriːvoʊ/ ə-REE-voh; born 8 January 1987) is a British actress and singer. Known for her work on both stage and screen, she is the recipient of several accolades and one of few individuals nominated for an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award (EGOT), winning all but the Oscar.
Erivo made her West End debut in the stage musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (2011). She later made her Broadway debut playing Celie in the musical revival of The Color Purple (2015–2017). Erivo's work for the production won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award. She expanded to films in 2018 with the crime thrillers Widows and Bad Times at the El Royale. Erivo earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for portraying Harriet Tubman in Harriet (2019) and Elphaba in Wicked (2024), as well as a nomination for Best Original Song for the song "Stand Up" from the former.
On television, Erivo portrayed Holly Gibney in the HBO crime drama miniseries The Outsider (2020) and Aretha Franklin in National Geographic's anthology series Genius: Aretha (2021); the latter earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. As a singer, she has released singles as well as her solo album Ch. 1 Vs. 1 (2021).
Erivo was born on 8 January 1987 to Nigerian immigrant parents in Stockwell, London, England. Her mother Edith was 15 years old when the Nigerian Civil War broke out, with Erivo saying that "she's not necessarily a refugee, but [...] her home was ravaged, and they were on the run to find safety." Both of Erivo's parents arrived in the UK in their early twenties and they separated when she was very young. Following this, she and her younger sister Stephanie were raised by their mother, a nurse. They were disowned by their father when Erivo was 16 and she remains estranged from him. She named her production company Edith's Daughter as a tribute to her mother.
Erivo attended La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School in Clapham Park. As a child, she had roles in Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle, and later appeared on television in Trust Me, I'm a Teenager. Her confirmation name is Perpetua. She began a music psychology degree at the University of East London in 2004. However, a year into her degree, she applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and transferred there upon acceptance. She graduated from RADA with a bachelor's degree in acting in 2010.
Erivo first appeared in roles on British television programmes such as Chewing Gum and The Tunnel. Her first stage role was in Marine Parade by Simon Stephens at the Brighton Festival. Her first musical role was in John Adams' and June Jordan's I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky at Theatre Royal Stratford East. On Sunday, 9 December 2012, Cynthia appeared in Alexander S. Bermange's and Stephen Clark's Living Every Day, which was performed as part of The 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala at the Old Vic in London’s West End.
In 2013, Erivo played the role of Celie Harris in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of The Color Purple, a role which Whoopi Goldberg had originated onscreen. Erivo had previously portrayed Sister Mary Clarence / Deloris Van Cartier in a UK tour of the stage musical Sister Act, which Goldberg had originated in its film adaptation. She is also featured on the soundtrack to the musical drama film Beyond the Lights, co-writing and performing the song "Fly Before You Fall".
Erivo originated the role of Chenice in the West End musical I Can't Sing!, which opened at the London Palladium on 26 March 2014, garnering mixed reviews. The production closed on 10 May, just six weeks and three days after its official opening night. Erivo starred in the European premiere of Dessa Rose at London's Trafalgar Studios from July to August 2014, for which she was nominated as Best Leading Actress in a musical at the 2015 BroadwayWorld UK Awards.
She made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory production of The Color Purple, reprising her role as Celie Harris alongside American actresses Jennifer Hudson as Shug Avery and Danielle Brooks as Sofia. The production began performances at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, from 10 December 2015. Her performance earned her acclaim across the board with The New York Times declaring, "Ms. Erivo's sobering and stirring portrayal of Celie, in a rapturously reviewed revival of The Color Purple... has brought the kind of praise that can change a performer's career". She won several awards for her performance, including the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Erivo starred as Cathy alongside Joshua Henry in a one-night benefit concert performance of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years on 12 September 2016. Proceeds from the performance went to the Brady Center, a national gun violence organisation. In February 2017, at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Erivo performed "God Only Knows" alongside John Legend, as a tribute to musicians who had died over the past year.
In March 2017, Erivo and the cast of The Color Purple were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for their performance on NBC's The Today Show in May 2016. In April 2017, it was announced that Erivo and the cast of The Color Purple alongside The Today Show won the Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award in the Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program category. In November 2017, she appeared on the charity benefit Night of Too Many Stars, hosted by Jon Stewart, where she performed a duet with frequent contributor Jodi DiPiazza of the Andra Day hit "Rise Up" they were accompanied by Questlove and The Roots.
Erivo made her film debut in 2018 in the neo-noir thriller film Bad Times at the El Royale. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times deemed Erivo's performance "revelatory in the most rewarding sense". That same year, she also starred in the Steve McQueen directed heist thriller film Widows, which marked the first film she had ever shot. In his review of the film for The Atlantic, David Sims highlighted Erivo's "incredible work" in portraying her character's dramatic transformation. In 2019, Erivo produced and starred in the scripted science fiction thriller podcast Carrier, voicing the lead role of Raylene Watts, a long-haul truck driver transporting a trailer with "disturbing, mysterious contents".
Erivo portrayed the title role in Harriet, a biographical film about American abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The film began production in October 2018, completed filming in January 2019, and was released on 1 November 2019. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Erivo "is a powerful physical presence in the title role" adding that "[she] hits all the requisite notes of flintiness and selfless bravery born of suffering, determination and rage". Her performance earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama; she also received a second nomination for Best Original Song for a song she co-wrote and performed for the film entitled "Stand Up". In 2020, Erivo garnered nominations for two Academy Awards–one for Best Actress for her portrayal of Tubman and the other for Best Original Song for "Stand Up".
In 2020, Erivo starred as investigator Holly Gibney in the HBO miniseries The Outsider, a television adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name. That same year, she launched a production company named Edith's Daughter as well as signed a deal with media company MRC to develop television projects through the production company. She appeared in the science fiction film Chaos Walking, based on Patrick Ness' novel The Knife of Never Letting Go, which was released on 5 March 2021. Erivo portrayed singer Aretha Franklin in the third season of the anthology series Genius, which premiered in March 2021. She released two songs titled "The Good" and "Glowing Up" to promote her debut studio album, Ch. 1 Vs. 1, which was released on 7 September 2021. That same month, she joined the jury of the 78th Venice International Film Festival.
In July 2022, Erivo performed as part of the BBC Proms, singing tributes to women who have inspired her. Writing in The Times, John Bungey highlighted her performances of the songs "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Ain't No Way". That same year she performed a medley of Stephen Sondheim songs as part of the In Memoriam segment at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards alongside Rachel Zegler, Leslie Odom Jr. and Ben Platt. Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone described it as both "moving" and "fitting" tribute. Erivo played The Blue Fairy in Disney's 2022 live-action film adaptation of Pinocchio, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Despite the film receiving negative reviews, Christy Lemire of Rogerebert.com wrote of her performance that, "Erivo is such a majestic sight to behold, you’ll wish there were more of her here". Also in 2022 she performed the song "Edelweiss" from the musical The Sound of Music in tribute to Julie Andrews who received the AFI Life Achievement Award.
In 2023, she appeared in the Netflix crime thriller Luther: The Fallen Sun, a film continuation of the crime drama series Luther starring Idris Elba. In the same year Erivo portrayed Jacqueline, a refugee during a war-torn Africa, in the film Drift. Erivo said to have taken inspiration from her mother's experience as a refugee during the Nigerian Civil War for this role. She was also a producer for the film. The following year she played Petra, a bold and flirtatious maid, in the Lincoln Center concert production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music at David Geffen Hall. She paid tribute to Dionne Warwick at the Kennedy Center Honors where she sang a rendition of "Alfie" from the 1966 film of the same name.
Erivo portrayed Elphaba in the musical fantasy film Wicked (2024), which served as the first part of a two-film adaptation of the musical play. The film's accompanying soundtrack album was co-billed to Erivo, who performed seven songs from the musical. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and gave Erivo her first UK top-ten hit with her rendition of "Defying Gravity". Erivo earned acclaim for the role, with Wendy Ide of The Guardian writing "Erivo is terrific, her rich, velvety voice cracking under the weight of rejections and ridicule suffered by Elphaba." For her performance, Erivo received nominations for Best Actress at the Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards (where she also received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast), and Academy Awards. Her Academy Award nomination made her the second black actress after Viola Davis to have been nominated for Best Actress more than once.
Erivo is Roman Catholic. She identifies as queer and bisexual. Erivo is dating actress and producer Lena Waithe.
In 2024, Erivo was appointed vice president of her alma mater, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Throughout her career, Erivo has received a Daytime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
For the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, Erivo won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The following year, she and the cast of The Color Purple won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.