Cynthia Erivo warned of “dangerous” social media, in response to a question about online abuse of her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande.
“It’s easy to be behind a computer typing words about a person you don’t know, and not getting to know a person and learning about them in their being,” said Erivo, speaking in an in-conversation session at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival. The way to counter that, the actress said, “is really to try and be the counterpoint to whatever is coming back at a person.
”If it is something to with looks, if it is something to do with what people think of you – be the voice that says the positive, that tells them that actually what a person who is on the internet, who has never met you before thinks, is nowhere near as important as what you think of yourself.”
Erivo was asked about social media criticism of Grande’s appearance in the film. The pair have been part of an extensive press tour for Wicked, with several moments that have gone viral including a question from a journalist about people “holding space” for Wicked: Part One closing number ‘Defying Gravity’.
Erivo also detailed the challenges of singing ‘Defying Gravity’ while hoisted above the ground.
“I was in the air, flying, on wires, in a harness, singing, so I had no ground underneath me,” said Erivo. “That changes the challenge, because now I have to find out physically where to put the sound. I would have to imagine ground underneath me to push against, to make the bigger sounds, which is hard if it’s the only way to make the sound.
“If you have a corset on, you can’t use your diaphragm, because it’s constrained. I had to place the breath in a different place, and use an imaginary ground to make sound.”
Erivo plays Elphaba in Universal’s Wicked: Part One, which has reached the $400m mark at the global box office after just two weeks in play.
“The moment [Elphaba] starts to sing, often she’s alone and that’s when she can let you in to what she’s really feeling,” said Erivo.
In Wicked, Elphaba is different from the other residents of Oz due to her green skin. Erivo spoke of the “wonderful dichotomy” of being a Black woman playing this role.
“The green stands for every person who feels othered; there’s also the other layer of who I am underneath it,” said the actress. “I know as a Black woman we walk into spaces and aren’t necessarily accepted, and are often the other.
“Those tears that she cries, those moments where she does feel different, that first scene where the green is caused a problem – they do affect, those tears are real, they come from my understanding of what it feels.”
Erivo also spoke of her experience playing Harriet Tubman in Kasi Lemmons’ 2019 Harriet – a role for which Erivo received her first Oscar nomination, for best actress.
“I don’t think people realise how much she had to give up as a young person,” said Erivo. “She loved strawberries and fine china – these small details. She fell in love and had her heart broken, but still continued. Someone with heartbreak continued to try to save other people. She led an army – she was a general.”
Erivo also noted some of her acting and singing heroes, including Cicely Tyson – “I loved the fervour for the arts she had, she did it by being very much herself” – Viola Davis, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston, and Meryl Streep.
Erivo also expressed her admiration for Barbra Streisand, for moving from actress to filmmaker – a transition Erivo said “I think I’m leaning towards at some point in my life.”
Red Sea’s in-conversation sessions continue this afternoon with Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Vin Diesel and Eva Longoria.
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