A step away from the record: what do we know about Cynthia Erivo – the only black star nominated for Oscar 2020
Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo, 33, is the only black actress to be nominated for an Oscar this year. She is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Harriet and Best Original Song for Stand Up from the same film. If she wins, Cynthia will become the youngest winner of four prestigious awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT) – and will break the record of John Legend, who did it at the age of 39, and will also become the only 16th person in the world to receive these awards. We talk about it in more detail in our new material.
Biography and education
Cynthia Erivo was born on January 8, 1987 to Nigerian immigrants in South London. She was raised by her mother, who worked as a nurse. She believed in her daughter and always knew that she was destined to become a real star.
Erivo admitted.
Cynthia attended La Retraite, a Catholic girls’ school, before attending the University of East London, where she studied music and psychology. After receiving her degree, she continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
Her first stage role was in Simon Stephens’s Sea Parade at the Brighton Festival, and 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 the Theater Royal East Stratford. Among her other roles as an aspiring theater actress are parts in the performances "I Can’t Sing" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
In 2013, she played Celia Harris in the British version of the musical The Color Purple. In 1985, this role glorified Whoopi Goldberg.
In 2015, she made her Broadway debut with the role of Celia. In New York, she played on the same stage with Jennifer Hudson and Danielle Brooks. It was this role that brought her Tony, Grammy and Emmy awards.
Erivo’s career in television began relatively recently – in 2013 she starred in the series "Mr Selfridge" (Mr Selfridge) and "Tunnel" (Tunnel).
In 2018, the film Widows was released, in which Erivo starred with Colin Farrell, Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson and other movie stars. The film is about four widows whose burglar husbands were killed during a raid. Fearless and brave main characters will have to punish those responsible for the death of their loved ones.
Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo in Widows
That same year, she appeared in the film Bad Times at the El Royale alongside Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson and Chris Hemsworth. The actress was in no way inferior to her eminent colleagues, and she worked so well on the set that director Drew Goddard even asked her to specifically make mistakes so that she would not outshine the rest. And one episode with the participation of Cynthia, in which she sang live, was re-shot 27 times – however, it is difficult to believe that she was out of tune, but that Goddard wanted to enjoy her vocals as long as possible is quite.
Cynthia Erivo in Bad Times at the El Royale
Erivo herself says that she would like to play roles that are not "asexual", but she does not get them.
she says.
Last year, the film Harriet was released, in which Erivo played the role of Harriet Tubman, a former slave and abolitionist. This picture was the first biopic about a real American black fighter for their rights and made a lot of noise. When it became known that Erivo was invited to play the lead role, not all critics approved of the idea that the Briton would play the role of one of the most famous civil rights activists in the United States. However, instead of responding to criticism, Erivo decided to focus on her work and asked the audience to give her a chance.
she said.
Cynthia Erivo in the movie Harriet
After filming, she said she put her whole heart and soul into her character.
— explained the actress.
Cynthia believes that she managed to break the stereotype that black actors are regularly hostages of the image: they often have to play slaves and sufferers.
Cynthia thinks.
Erivo is currently filming The Outsider, a television adaptation of the Stephen King novel, where she plays the role of investigator Holly Gibney. This year will also see the release of the fantastic picture Chaos Walking with her participation.
However, there were failures in her career. So, in 2018, at a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, where she was invited to sing the anthem, the actress forgot the words. Then it was well covered in the press.
Oscar nominations
This year, Cynthia was nominated for an Oscar for the first time. The news that she was on the list of main contenders for the most prestigious film award found her on her way to Japan, where she went on tour. She called the news of her nominations "crazy" and "madness", but also noted that she is the only black star represented this year at the Oscars.
– she said.
If she wins the Oscars, Cynthia will become not only the youngest star to win EGOT, but also the celebrity who managed to do it in the shortest time – less than five years.
Personal life
For a long time, the actress met with British musical actor and participant in the reality show "Britain’s Got Talent" Dean John-Wilson. But, according to insiders, they broke up. Whether Cynthia is now dating someone is unknown, but she goes out alone.
Cynthia Erivo and Dean John-Wilson
Interesting Facts
1 Cynthia Erivo was invited to perform at the BAFTA awards with the song Stand Up, but she refused after it turned out that there was not a single black star among the nominees.
2 Cynthia is not very popular on social media. On Instagram, a little more than 350 thousand people have subscribed to it, and this is a very small figure by the standards of the popular social network.
3 She is a vegan. At least that’s what she says on her Instagram profile. Cynthia admitted that she loves healthy and proper food, and there is always green juice in her bag in case of a sudden feeling of hunger.
she said.
Instagram photo of Cynthia Erivo
4 One of Erivo’s favorite movies is the gay drama Call Me By Your Name with Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer because she thinks he’s "very sensitive and gentle."
5 Cynthia boasts an excellent physical shape. She enjoys running and even ran a marathon in New York! According to her, long-distance running helps her put her thoughts and feelings in order. She calls it "movement therapy."
6 Cynthia has a puppy named Caleb.
7 She took part in the recording of John Cameron Mitchell’s music podcast Anthem: Homunculus along with Glenn Close and Marion Cotillard.