The press run for Wicked has been a pretty emotional one for Cynthia Erivo, but the tears were falling way before filming ended.
Daniele Venturelli / Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival
Now, if you’ve been on social media or watched some celebrity news TV lately, then you’ve probably seen Cynthia and Ariana Grande shed a few tears while promoting Part One of the movie musical. In fact, it was happening so much, that it eventually turned into a meme.
In an interview with Variety, Cynthia shared why playing Elphaba Thropp (who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West) as a Black woman was so sentimental to her.
“The green stands for every person who feels othered,” she said. “There is a layer of who I am underneath and Black women walk into spaces that are not necessarily welcoming.”
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“It was important to tell that story and have that as a layer and I was lucky enough to have a director who allowed me to tell that story. That scene when [Elphaba] is told that the green is a problem? Those tears were real. It comes from my understanding of what it feels like to feel that. I cannot tell that story without sharing those emotions.”
The Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor added that playing this role was challenging because she wanted viewers to take Elphaba’s vulnerability and humanity into account when they see her, instead of making assumptions due to her skin color.
“You can be distracted by the green. You have to come past that so people can see her as a person, the pain in her eyes and the hurt she feels in her heart.”
Universal Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection
“With Elphaba, I had this beautiful challenge of humanizing her and even the green she lives with. She is a very special character to me.”
Speaking of her exterior, Cynthia revealed she made the conscious decision to give Elphaba micro-braids as one of her protective styles in the movie, to preserve the connection she has with the character.
“I wanted to show how versatile braids could be,” she said. “And how much fun you could have with them, and how emotional the hair could be, how much movement it has.”
Honestly, I can totally understand why Cynthia has had such impassioned responses when speaking on her work in this film and bringing Elphaba’s story to life. The parallels between her life and her character’s are evident, which only made Cynthia’s relationship with Elphaba even stronger.
