To be part of the upcoming screen adaptation of Wicked film is a dream come true for Cynthia Erivo, but the path to achieving this was not smooth sailing. The Tony Award winner plays the iconic Elphaba Thropp in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, a role she said was too elusive for Black women.
The character of Elphaba has been portrayed by different actresses on Broadway and West End, and there’s only one Black woman – Alexia Khadime – to play the role full-time in any production of Wicked before Erivo.
Cynthia Erivo Almost Lost Hope Winning the Role of Wicked’s Elphaba
In an emotional interview with The New York Times, British singer Cynthia Erivo confessed she did not believe the upcoming Wicked film production would cast her for the role because she’s Black. She thought that her kind was not really the usual choice for the part.
Historically, Black women have never really been seen for the role. If they have, they haven’t gotten the role, and if they do, they usually are the alternate or first cover.
Over the years, there have been about 46 actresses who played the role of the emerald-skinned witch on Broadway, as per Playbill. Some notable names include Idina Menzel, Stephanie J Block, Kerry Ellis, Eden Espinosa, and Alexia Khadime.
Erivo referred to the latter actress as the “only one woman I know on record that has done it on the West End and she did it once and has never been brought back.” This is the reason why she feared the production would not choose her. “I just didn’t think they were looking for me,” she added.
It would be a huge missed opportunity if Wicked did not cast Erivo because her portfolio is brimming with diverse and highly acclaimed films and television shows, not to mention her theatre credits. Some of her notable works include Bad Times at the El Royale, Harriet, Star Wars: Visions, and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. For stage plays, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for 2015’s The Color Purple.
In the same conversation, the 37-year-old star said that roles like Elphaba don’t come along too often, so it was a real privilege to portray the character as she is more than just a pop culture icon.
Wicked Director Was Stunned With Cynthia Erivo’s Audition for Elphaba
Erivo echoed the same sentiment in her interview with Vanity Fair. She revealed she was one of the last people to be brought in for the part. At the time, she was losing hope: “I didn’t even believe I would be seen. I was like, I don’t think this is going to happen.”
On the other hand, director Jon M. Chu said that the moment Erivo sang during the audition, he knew she embodied a version of the character that he had never seen before. When she finished the song, he believed they had finally found their Elphaba.
Wicked arrives in theatres on November 22, 2024.
