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Cynthia Erivo stuns in green at the LA premiere of first Wicked movie last yearCredit: Splash<\/p>\n
Cynthia and Ariana at the first European screening of Wicked: For Good in LondonCredit: Getty<\/p>\n
The British actress admits she feels protective over Ariana, saying: \u201cI love her, she\u2019s a bright spark but you just want to take care of her. \u00a0And we really took care of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luckily loyal pal Cynthia was already fighting fit thanks to the \u00adgruelling stunts she had to perform for the eagerly anticipated sequel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe flying in harnesses, \u00adchafing, we had it. Chafing was like a funny word to me until I realised what chafing actually looked like when you had it, repetitively.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took months for my hips to heal, scratched palms bleeding, bloody nose, like it was bad.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t emotions flow<\/p>\n Sharon Osbourne breaks down as Donald Trump pays tribute to late husband Ozzy<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe were willing to do whatever it took to do this, but this one was a big one for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Cynthia \u00a0says she and \u00a0Ariana \u00a0prefer to go to bed early \u2014 like a pair of \u201cgrandmothers\u201d.<\/p>\n The star revealed that because of the time difference and their schedules, they often struggle to catch up when she is in London<\/a> and Ariana is at home in LA.<\/p>\n SHUNNED BY DAD<\/p>\n But while gearing up for the long-awaited sequel of the big-screen musical, \u00a032-year-old Ariana, who plays Glinda, broke routine to make sure they could chat.<\/p>\n Cynthia, who plays Elphaba in the films, \u00a0said of one recent late-night text exchange with Ariana: \u201cShe\u2019s a sweetheart. I was like, \u2018Why are you up so late?\u2019 Because we\u2019re like grandmothers, the two of us.<\/p>\n \u201cWe like to sleep early. For some reason I was up at 11 here, which meant she was up at two wherever she was. I said, \u2018Why are you up so late?\u2019 She was like, \u2018I know, it\u2019s new, isn\u2019t it? I\u2019m never up this late\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018No you\u2019re not, what\u2019s going on?\u2019. And she said, \u2018I\u2019m taking every second I can get right now because you\u2019re usually asleep by now\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u00a0first Wicked movie became the highest-grossing UK release of 2024, taking \u00a359.6million at the box office.<\/p>\n It led to Cynthia being nominated for an Oscar<\/a>, Bafta, Critics\u2019 Choice, Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Actress.<\/p>\n The sequel, Wicked: For Good, is expected to be just as big and hits UK cinemas on Friday, continuing the tale of the \u00a0witches of Oz.<\/p>\n Adapted from the hit musical, Wicked follows Elphaba, a student sorceress shunned by her own father for her green skin, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, while her spoiled roommate Glinda ends up as the Good Witch of the North.<\/p>\n Cynthia tells how she endured \u00adsimilar heartache when her own dad walked out of her life for good when she was a teenager.<\/p>\n She and her sister Stephanie were very young when their Nigerian father left their mother Edith, a nurse, to bring up the girls alone.<\/p>\n Edith remarried when Cynthia was five and she continued to see her dad \u201ctwo or three times a week\u201d.<\/p>\n I think he just was not set up to be a dad. I don\u2019t think it was his bag<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tCynhtia\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She told The Armchair Expert \u00adpodcast: \u201cMy mum was really, I think, kind and gave him the space to come and visit if he wanted to.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would go over to him from time to time as well. She really made the space for us if he wanted to build a relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he just didn\u2019t. I think he \u00a0was just not set up to be a dad. I don\u2019t think it was his bag.\u201d<\/p>\n Recalling how she became estranged from her father, \u00a0Cynthia added: \u201cI was 16 when my dad decided not to be a part of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n The actress pictured at a 2021 awards bash alongside her mum EdithCredit: Getty<\/p>\n By then, she had already joined a local youth theatre group and was singing hymns at a Catholic church near her home in Stockwell, South West London<\/a>.<\/p>\n She went on to start a degree in musical psychology at the University of East London, but quit after securing a place at top acting school Rada.<\/p>\n Her early bid to break into UK telly flopped with an appearance on Channel 4 reality show Trust Me, I\u2019m A Teenager and a small part in ITV period drama Mr Selfridge. \u00a0Hopes of a breakthrough \u00a0in Simon Cowell<\/a> and<\/p>\n Harry Hill\u2019s \u00a36million X Factor \u00admusical, I Can\u2019t Sing, were dashed as the run closed after seven weeks.<\/p>\n But her singing voice impressed casting directors.<\/p>\n She made her West End debut in the stage musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and, in 2013, \u00a0won a place in a British stage adaptation of The Color Purple, the 1985 movie that starred Whoopi Goldberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since then, her roles have included Harriet Tubman in the film Harriet and a part in Netflix thriller Luther: The Fallen Sun.<\/p>\n But the one person \u00a0she always wanted to impress was her father.<\/p>\n She secretly hoped with her \u00a0\u00adbecoming famous, he would change his mind about being in her life. Cynthia said: \u201cI think I was using, for a small amount of time, my career as a conduit to find a way to get him back.<\/p>\n \u2018Look what you gave up, you\u2019re going to regret leaving this\u2019. Yeah, that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Cynthia has turned to therapy to help her deal with the trauma.<\/p>\n \u2018MAKE MISTAKES\u2019<\/p>\n She said: \u201cUntil you get your head around it and get some control on what it is that you\u2019re actually looking for, what you\u2019re trying to fix in that, it will keep going.<\/p>\n \u201cThank goodness for a good therapist \u2014 that s**t really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, she has finally let go and learned to forgive. \u00a0She told The Cruz Show podcast: \u201cIt took me ages to let go of parents. It\u2019s like my father, I had to let that go and it\u2019s taken me a long time to get there\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009to realise that it\u2019s a human being who is also fallible and who will make mistakes.\u201d <\/p>\n The co-stars attending the Critics\u2019 Choice awards in California earlier this yearCredit: Getty<\/p>\n Cynthia admits that clinging on to that pain for such a long time held her back.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWhen you let go, you have to start living. What I keep doing is trying to find the things that challenge me the most, that force me to learn more, that keep me honest \u00a0in my craft, that don\u2019t let me get complacent and lazy.\u201d<\/p>\n Wicked was a challenge. The movies were filmed in the UK in chronological order, \u00a0back-to-back, \u00a0between Dec- ember 2022 and January 2024, with a break in 2023 due to an actors\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n Cynthia, who is dating Lena Waithe, an American actress, producer, and screenwriter, admits that even today she still gets crippled by anxiety.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cI think if I lose the nervousness, then I know something\u2019s wrong. Because my nervousness tells me I care. The second that disappears, we\u2019ve got a problem. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I relish the moments when my heart\u2019s beating fast and I\u2019m nervous. I always forget the first line. Whenever I\u2019m about to go on, the first line will go out \u00a0my head. \u00a0That\u2019s nerves.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when I stand in front of people, it always comes back. It means I care about being here, I care about the people watching.\u201d<\/p>\n Thank goodness for a good therapist, that s**t really helped<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tCynthia\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When those jitters hit, she relies \u00a0on strict pre-performance rituals. She said: \u201cBreathing for me is always key.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I always say a prayer before I go on stage. Also, nervousness can sometimes be the mirror looking at yourself.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t HOME TROUBLES<\/p>\n Amy Schumer struggles to sell $12m Brooklyn townhouse amid \u2018marriage crisis\u2019<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sharon-comp-ba-1.jpg\"\/)
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