Cynthia Erivo says Wicked performance as Elphaba was 'for every person who feels othered'
Cynthia Erivo has revealed that her 'Wicked' performance was inspired by her own heritage and feelings of being “othered”.
Cynthia Erivo channeled her “pride about being a black woman” into her ‘Wicked’ performance.
The 38-year-old actress had green skin as Elphaba in the hit movie - but she was inspired by her own heritage and feelings of being “othered”.
She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “Those braids are on purpose; I asked for the braids. The nails are on purpose, I asked for the nails.
“The green stands for every person who feels othered, who feels different, who doesn’t feel as though they’re connected or ends up feeling as though they’re on the outside.
“They don’t feel as though they are welcomed.
“But there’s also that other later of, ‘Who am I underneath it?’, if they know that as black women, we walk into spaces and aren’t necessarily accepted or welcomed and aren’t necessarily the main character and are often the other.
“And the pride that I feel about being a black woman is in there as well."
Cynthia relished the “beautiful challenge” of trying to “humanize” Elphaba in the 2024 film.
The actress said: "Elphaba is a challenging character, because you want to make sure that people see her vulnerability and humanity.
"You can be distracted by the green and that can be the first thing you notice, or the thing you might fixate on.
"You have to come past that, so that people can actually see her as a person, and see her pain and the hurt that she feels in her heart.
"So I had this beautiful challenge of being able to humanize her … so that you can look past and through and still accept the green that she is and the person within."
Cynthia starred alongside Ariana Grande in 'Wicked', and she previously admitted to developing an immediate "connection" with her chart-topping co-star.
Speaking to 'Extra', the London-born actress shared: "When we found out we were doing this, I asked her to come around and just chill. We organized it together and she came to my house. We sat on my floor and chatted for hours and hours and hours.
"I think in that moment, we both realized that we had something, like an immediate sort of connection."
