Back in 2019, Cynthia Erivo received the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Breakthrough Performance Award. Just six years later, she will be lauded with Variety’s Creative Impact in Acting Award, commemorating the Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winning performer’s latest achievement: playing Elphaba in “Wicked.”
Her performance has received rave reviews, and she has been nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice award. Erivo is also tipped to land both Oscar and SAG award nominations later this month.
Previous recipients of the Creative Impact in Acting Award include Penelope Cruz, Emily Blunt, Steve Carell, Glenn Close, Robert De Niro, Jonah Hill, Daniel Kaluuya and Viggo Mortensen. In a statement to Variety, Erivo said, “I have watched actors who I look up to become recipients of this award, and I have been a fan of the work that they have put forward in the world in order to be worthy of this award, so it is deeply humbling and incredibly overwhelming to be thought of in the same breath as those whom I admire.
“The job now is to keep creating work that will hopefully continue to resonate and ultimately move people.”
The award will be given as part of Variety’s annual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch on Jan. 4. Her “Wicked” co-star, Ariana Grande, will present Erivo with the award. Grande will also be receiving the festival’s Rising Star award, which has in the past recognized Gal Gadot, Terrence Howard and many others.
For Erivo, playing Elphaba holds deep meaning. “It’s a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to anyone who’s walked into a room and felt like they haven’t been welcomed,” she told Variety earlier this fall. “I am really glad to be the conduit through which this character has been brought to the world.”
Erivo approached Elphaba diligently, not just honoring the lore of the Broadway musical and the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz” which inspired it, but also as homage to Black women. Hair was an important factor in that story.
Historically, Elphaba’s hair was long, black and wavy, but Erivo “wanted something more connected to the person underneath, me.” She asked if the production could reimagine that hair as micro braids “because I knew you’d still have the movement, and you could still have the length. But there was a texture that was slightly different to what you would normally see on stage, and it was a direct connection between me as a Black woman and Elphaba as a green lady.”
The actress also proposed changes to Elphaba’s nails. Since Erivo was 16, nail art has always been a part of the actress’ presentation of herself, and she wanted to incorporate that into Elphaba’s looks. After seeing a photo at the Academy Museum of Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz”)wearing a full set of long nails, Erivo suggested that Elphaba’s nails actively tell her story — they get darker and longer as her powers get stronger.
Erivo ultimately connected with Elphaba on many levels, especially how the qualities that set her apart from others made her a stronger person. “I feel like I’ve been given this incredible gift of a character whose raison d’etre is to show that all of your difference is what makes you special,” Erivo said. “The search to finding that can be hard, but when it happens, it can be really freeing, really beautiful.”
She added, “This recognition is such an honor and it has been the joy of a lifetime being able to bring Elphaba to the big screen.”
