Wicked: For Good hits theaters today, with Cynthia Erivo starring as Elphaba – but how much do you know about the actress?
Wicked: For Good, one of the most hotly anticipated movies of the year, hits theaters today [November 21], to conclude the story of witches Glinda and Elphaba in Oz, chronicling the events that lead up to and occur during The Wizard of Oz.
The stars of Wicked: For Good are again Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Both won critical and popular praise for their roles in the first movie last year and are set to shine again in this one.
But how much do you know about Cynthia Erivo? Here are some facts that you might not know.
She has a really long name
Cynthia has five middle names. Her full name is: Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo.
While she was born in London, her parents were both Nigerian, which is where the names come from.
She has a university degree
While Cynthia’s co-star in Wicked: For Good, Ariana Grande, was a child acting star – read more about that here – Cynthia was an adult before she got her first big acting break. Indeed, she went to university first and started studying for a degree in music psychology at the University of East London in 2004. But by then her acting was starting to take off, so, a year into her degree, she applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and transferred there. She graduated from RADA with a bachelor’s degree in acting in 2010.
One short of an EGOT
The grand slam of acting, the EGOT – standing for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, four of the most prestigious awards in the industry – is sought after by many actors, but few get the set. Cynthia is currently just one short.
For her work in the Broadway musical revival of The Color Purple, Cynthia won a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and a Daytime Emmy. So far, an Oscar has eluded her, although she has been nominated for the best actress award twice, for Harriet in 2019 and Wicked in 2025.
23 roles in one play
Cynthia is nothing if not ambitious. Next year, she is set to play all 23 roles in the West End in England in a one-woman play adaptation of Dracula. It will play at the Noel Coward Theatre for a limited 16-week engagement from 4 February to 31 May 2026. You can read more about that here.
But this won’t be the first time Cynthia has played multiple roles in one show. In a season two episode of Pokerface, Cynthia played the roles of five identical sisters.
Matching tattoos
Cynthia and her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande have – unlike the characters they portray in the movies – become very good friends over the past couple of years. Indeed, so close have they become that they have had several matching tattoos done.
The tattoos include having the words ‘for good’ written on the palms of their hand, poppies drawn on the outside of their hand, and hearts on the back of their ankles.
Dream role
While Cynthia has already played some iconic roles on stage and screen – including Elphaba – there is one real-life star she would like to play one day – tennis icon Serena Williams.
In an interview with Ebony Magazine in 2018, Cynthia revealed her admiration for the star. “There’s this fiery, determined champion, and then there’s this really gorgeous, almost Marilyn Monroe-esque siren—something really quite ethereal,” she said. Maybe one day she will get her wish.
