WATCH: Cynthia Erivo Reflects On The Importance Of Sisterhood, Acceptance, Authenticity And Her Film, WICKED

essencemagazine

ESSENCE spoke with the award-winning actress about the highly anticipated film and how sisterhood has enriched her life.

Transcript

00:00I'm Dominique Fluker, Lifestyle Editor at Essence Magazine, and a fellow Alpha Kappa

00:16Alpha Sorority Incorporated member.

00:19On behalf of Universal Pictures and Essence, I'm thrilled to welcome you to this exclusive

00:24advanced screening of Wicked.

00:26It's wonderful to be here celebrating not just a spectacular film, but also the legacy

00:32and sisterhood of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

00:40Thank you, Sora Alicia, for your tireless work and leadership.

00:51I would also like to thank Cluster 3 co-coordinator, Sora Victoria Thomas.

01:02Thank you, too, for your leadership and tireless dedication.

01:07We always have a lot to celebrate, right?

01:11But tonight is ultra special, as we're honoring our incredible Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award

01:19winning Sora, Cynthia Erivo.

01:28As you know, she's multi-talented and starring in the fantastic film Wicked, which we will

01:34watch and dive into tonight.

01:36Let's all welcome Sora Cynthia to the stage.

01:40Gosh, hello, how are you?

01:44I'm well.

01:45How are you?

01:46Good, thank you.

01:47Hello, everyone.

01:49You're all so lovely.

01:52Sora Cynthia, everyone.

01:53You look amazing.

01:55Thank you very much.

01:56How are you?

01:57Green and gorgeous.

01:58Come on, Prada.

02:00Come on, shoes.

02:01Something light.

02:02Come on, dress.

02:03Yes, Bob.

02:04Okay.

02:05Step away.

02:06Okay.

02:07Right.

02:08Work.

02:09Yes.

02:10Hello.

02:11Okay, Sora, now let's get into it.

02:16Soras, AKA, means so much to me, and that's why I'm here today.

02:21I was initiated in 2015 in Xi Gamma Omega in Oakland, California.

02:28I want to give a special shout out to all of my far western region Soras out there,

02:34if you can hear me.

02:36Thank you for making me the woman who I am today.

02:40Speaking of authentic sisterhood, I'm sure everyone in the room would love to know how

02:46you feel about being part of our illustrious sisterhood.

02:49I'd love to hear your perspective on what it means to be an honorary AKA.

02:54So when I was asked, I want to say it was 2020 maybe, I was really overwhelmed by it

03:02because I'm a bit of a geek, so I'd been watching and seeing this culture of sisterhood happen

03:11around me as I was sort of like in this new country that hadn't been mine for a while.

03:17And so when I was asked to join, it felt like someone had given me a bit of a home to come

03:22to, you know what I mean?

03:23It felt like I'd been welcomed, and it's something really, and then specifically welcomed by

03:31black women, you know, who I see as my sisters everywhere, but coming here, it can be lonely

03:39and you're on your own, and I was, you know, in my career and without my family, and I was just solo.

03:48But then when I became an AKA, I wasn't solo anymore.

03:51And it's wherever I go, what started happening, I'd go to Chicago and do a concert, and then

03:57Soras would show up, and I'd get like green and pink gifts.

04:00Or I'd go to, I remember I went to Cleveland, and there were just gifts at the door, and

04:06just a note with Sora, hey, we just wanted to support you.

04:10And that means such a lot, it means that wherever you go, you're never alone.

04:15You always have someone who's looking out for you, who's celebrating you, who's lifting you up.

04:20So it was just such a special thing to have, yeah.

04:23That is so beautiful and so real.

04:26Now let's jump into this fabulous movie, Wicked.

04:30Wow, Sora.

04:33Thank you so much for your amazing performance.

04:35As you know, the film is brimming with essential themes of sisterhood, and real sisterhood

04:42is standing by your sister side by side during challenging moments, accepting for her for

04:50who she is, and atoning for your mistakes like many of our Soras do for each other.

04:55Can you recall a time when you experienced true sisterhood with an AKA?

04:59With an AKA, I feel like the thing that I just described feels like true sisterhood.

05:08I mean, you show up, you haven't seen someone for a really long time, but somehow they always

05:13manage to be there.

05:14Right.

05:14It's that, you know?

05:16I think that, so I met, I saw Sonny just outside.

05:22Sonny, are you here?

05:23Sonny's right here.

05:26Sonny's right here.

05:27And before, we went to take a picture together, and I was like, okay, we're going to take

05:32the picture, let's go.

05:32And she grabbed me by my shoulders and was like, how are you?

05:37Are you okay?

05:37Right.

05:39Like, it's moments like that where you get to zero in with a person and they see you

05:44for, like, they stop you and see you.

05:46Right.

05:47They go, I've got you.

05:48Wait a minute.

05:48Right.

05:49Are you actually okay?

05:50How are you?

05:52That's, for me, what sisterhood is.

05:55That's for checking for each other.

05:57Like, actually looking at someone's eyes and going, I want to make sure you're okay.

06:02Yeah.

06:02Before we speed past, you know?

06:05Right.

06:06Take that.

06:06Thank you, by the way.

06:07I didn't get to say thank you for that.

06:08Thank you so much.

06:09Yeah.

06:10Now in Wicked, your character is a woman of color, happens to be green, and has a magical

06:16power that no one else has.

06:19We can all relate to this in this room, can't we?

06:23Can I hear a source?

06:25Right?

06:27Honestly.

06:29Through many adversities, she discovers how to embrace her uniqueness with the help of

06:35sisterhood and encouragement.

06:37I've had hurdles myself to leap over, like losing my dad and looking to start my career

06:43all while juggling my mom's health.

06:46My source stepped in the gap for me in a huge way during this fragile time, giving me love,

06:51support, and guidance, helping me to push through those adversities.

06:56So how do you harness your own power amid adversity?

07:03I was talking to Tamron Hall today, and she said, you march to the beat of your own drum.

07:10How does that feel sometimes?

07:14And sometimes it's like right early on in my career, I was always slightly odd, slightly

07:19to the left, a little bit different to most people.

07:22And it can be really scary because when no one else is like you, you feel like you might

07:28be the one making the mistake.

07:29But actually, when it feels true, you can't do anything other than that.

07:36And so through adversity, I think I've just had a bit of staying power.

07:42I've had to be a bit brave just to keep going forward.

07:47And my stylist Jason Baldwin, who's like a big brother, says put blinders on, keep your

07:52blinders on, look at your own path, keep moving forward.

07:56Because if you start looking left and right, you might get distracted and you miss a step.

08:00So when it gets tough, when it gets hard, I, for me, I have to really focus on the thing

08:08that is in front of me, on the thing that I have to move towards.

08:11And then I'm lucky enough to have really good people around me who will just get back up,

08:19just who are always there for me when I need them.

08:23You know, I have really good people around me, really good friends who just don't go

08:29anywhere, even when even when I want them to, they won't listen, you know, it's a combination

08:38of a little bit of determination, stubbornness, because I'm a Capricorn.

08:44Caps.

08:45And good people.

08:45Yeah.

08:46I cannot wait for this particular room to experience this film tonight.

08:50Sora Cynthia, what do you hope inspires and sparks our sores?

08:54And what are you most excited for them to experience this film?

08:58Because I'm amongst family, I can say this.

09:02That's us up there.

09:03That's us.

09:04Yeah.

09:05Elphaba is every single one of us in this room.

09:09She faces a lot of adversity.

09:11She faces a lot that she has to struggle to come through.

09:16But the thing that she does is discover that the one thing she needs to do is stay true

09:21to who she is.

09:22And that's how she discovers how powerful she is.

09:26I know that every single one of us in here has had to deal with that.

09:30I know we deal with it almost every single day.

09:33But please trust and believe that if you just stay true to who you are,

09:40you will get to where you want to be.

09:43Even when it's difficult.

09:45Don't let anyone push you away from the path that you're meant to be following.

09:48And there will be many things that get in the way.

09:51I'm sure many things have gotten in the way.

09:55What's for you is for you.

09:57Amen.

09:57And as long as you see that the thing you have inside you is the thing that will get you there,

10:03you'll get there.

10:04That is what Elphaba does.

10:05Yeah.

10:07Sorry, Cynthia.

10:08One last question for you.

10:09If you were to finish the phrase, I defy gravity by, what would you say?

10:15I defy gravity by starring in a giant movie.

10:20Remember playing the green lady who flies.

10:25That's pretty crazy.

10:27But yeah, I think the things that I've been able to do and the fact that I'm here

10:32to be able to celebrate with you with this movie is a really big deal.

10:37The moment I knew I was doing this, the first thing I thought was green and pink.

10:41What?

10:45And everyone at Universal will attest to it.

10:47Because the first thing I said was like, so, okay.

10:52You know, to be able to be able to do that, to bring this to you and like, personally,

10:58be able to say like, I want to do this with them, please.

11:01It has to happen.

11:02There's no way we can do and there's no way we can do this without making sure that the

11:06AKAs are involved because green and pink is our color.

11:09So what we do, it would make no sense if we didn't.

11:12Please don't miss this moment.

11:13And they did.

11:14And I'm just glad that I'm able to, I feel like that's defying gravity, being able to

11:18actually bring your sisters along to this is really cool.

11:21Thank you so much for holding space for us.

11:23Thank you so much.

11:24We appreciate your openness, transparency, and dedication to our illustrious and one

11:30of a kind sisterhood.

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