- Cynthia Erivo is a Tony Award winning actress who made her star turn in Broadway's Color Purple.
- But the theater vet gave her singing vocals a rest during her Oscar-nominated role in Harriet, in which she plays Harriet Tubman.
- Ahead of the Academy Awards on February 9, here's everything we know about the fitness fanatic who may be going home with a golden statue.
British actress Cynthia Erivo astonished audiences with her star turn in Broadway's The Color Purple in 2015. She went on to win a Tony for her portrayal of Celie in 2016, and that same year she took home a Grammy (for the cast album) and later a daytime Emmy for performing on NBC.
But her inimitable voice aside, it's her titular role in the Harriet Tubman biopic, aptly named Harriet, that currently has our attention. The 34-year-old was nominated for a Best Lead Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the history-making abolitionist. If she wins in this stacked category of Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Saoirse Ronan (Little Women), Charlize Theron (Bombshell), and Renée Zellweger (Judy), she may be headed into the EGOT club soon. (In fact, she'd be the youngest member.) Here's what to know about Erivo.
Cynthia Erivo is from London, which caused backlash after she was cast in Harriet.
Born to Nigerian immigrants, she was raised in London by her mother, an intuitive nurse who always knew that Erivo was destined for the stage. "It was no surprise to her when it did happen because she kind of already knew," Erivo told the New York Times. "And so when I said to her that I was going to be an actress, I was going to sing, she said, 'Good, make sure you work hard.'"
Erivo began acting on U.K. stages at 11, which led her to stints doing reality TV, and later studying music psychology in college until she transferred to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She was in a touring production of Sister Act when she heard that The Color Purple was premiering in London, and she went full speed ahead with the 2013 production.
“I don’t think it’s different to be a Black girl in England than it is to be a Black girl from America,” she told the New York Times when the show came to Broadway. “We all collectively share in a pain of displacement, and not feeling like we quite belong in places.”
However, playing Celie, a part made famous by Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film, was one thing. After word got out that she'd be portraying Harriet Tubman, not every critic was kind about a British woman taking on the role of one of America's most iconic civil rights fighters. Instead of dwelling on hurtful remarks, she told Deadline, "I would rather tell this story well, do it justice, and hopefully some minds will change."
"I put my heart and soul into it," she added on TODAY. “It means the world to me. She means the world to me.”
In an exclusive interview with OprahMag.com, Erivo once more reacted to naysayers, saying Tubman's story drew her in because it's one "we don't often get to see," of a woman who is not just written as a stereotype.
"The thing that interests me about these people is that they're human. That's the first thing. That they are a part of American Black history. They're also a part of my history because I liked them and I knew them in the U.K., where we don't discuss very many women of color at all. They're not in the history books, they don't exist there," Erivo said. "Those are the women I know, the women I look to. When I was growing up and I was learning to sing, you cannot name on one hand, five women of color who have been given the opportunity to do as much as the musical women from the U.S. At all. All of my idols who happen to be Black females are probably American."
As for how she prepared to take on such an emotionally taxing role, Erivo said it simply is part of the job. "If it doesn't leave your heart, then where is it coming from? In order to truly connect to the story, to have life, it has to come from truth," she said, explaining she turned to music to access a wide range of emotion. "I would find pieces by different artists to access any sadness. There was one scene where I had found out that my sister had died, and I used a song called 'A Good Goodbye' by Lianne La Havas.' It hit the right nerve ... there's something in that music that speaks to loss."
The Emmy Award-winner is a self-proclaimed "fitness fanatic," as evidenced on Instagram.
If you've peeped her Instagram, it won't come as a surprise to you that Erivo works out a lot and eats clean. "It’s for me more than just getting fit and doing exercise. For me it’s giving myself the space to think about things, and to process things, and to give my body the treatment that it needs," she told OprahMag.com.
Erivo has a puppy called Caleb.
The chanteuse shared that to decompress she watches TV with her "other half" and spends time with her dog. "He's full of personality," she says. (She meant her pet, not her partner, though that could also be true.)
If I've never heard Erivo's voice, what Color Purple song should I start with?
Her show-stopping "I'm Here" from The Color Purple will be an excellent beginning.
And in a performance that sold out in minutes (that's not an exaggeration) she also sang from Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years in 2016 to much fanfare.
Don't miss tunes from her Live from Lincoln Center solo concert, either.
If you're in the market for something more filmic, listen to her track "Hold On I'm Coming" from the film Bad Times at the El Royale.
Or, try "Love You for Free," one of Cynthia Erivo's spellbinding moments from the musical podcast Anthem: Homunculus (more on that later) here:
Sold! Now, what movies should I brush up on before Harriet?
Start with her breakout role in 2018's Widows. She stars opposite Viola Davis in the heist movie, which Steve McQueen chose her specifically for. And then check out Bad Times at the El Royale, Drew Goddard’s crime thriller in which she fittingly plays a singer. She was lauded for singing live on set, despite complicated takes. And, that's a wrap. For now, at least.
You can catch her on a podcast.
She stars alongside Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, and Marion Cotillard in Anthem: Homunculus, a rock musical podcast created and headlined by John Cameron Mitchell. It's streaming now on Luminary.
While she didn't quite "manifest" her success, she's been steadfast about following her passion.
"In the back of my mind I knew what it was I wanted to do, and I was unashamed of seeing that through," she tells us. "So, I think in a way, I had manifested it, but I really just followed what had been happening and allowed things to come in, and tried to be present in the moment. And to give those things you didn't know were possible space to be there."
For more ways to live your best life plus all things Oprah, sign up for our newsletter!
Brie Schwartz is an editor, writer, and content strategist. She’s covered beauty, fashion, relationships, health, travel, Disney, decorating, DIYs, food, booze, and everything in between. She was most recently the deputy editor of Oprah Daily, where she helped bring the mission of guiding readers to live their best life to the (virtual) pages. Her writing has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Delish, Country Living, Esquire, Elle, Marie Claire, Seventeen, The Spruce, Woman’s Day, Women’s Health, and Men’s Health.
