Cynthia Erivo on Directing Ambitions and Dangers of ‘Wicked’ Cyber-Bullying: ‘It’s Easy’ to ‘Type Words About a Person You Don’t Know Anything About’

variety.com:

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Off the heels of the major global success of Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” Cynthia Erivo is already thinking of what comes next, including perhaps stepping behind the camera.

Speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival, the Oscar-nominated actor brought up Barbra Streisand as one of her great inspirations both as a singer and actor, adding that she “loved that Barbra was able to transform her career by not just being an actress but a director, which I am leaning towards.” Asked about the constant attacks co-lead Ariana Grande receives online, the actor said “cyberbullying is quite dangerous” and that it is “easy to be behind the computer typing words about a person you don’t know anything about.” Her course of action is to “be the counterpoint” to harmful narratives: “Be the person who tells the positive.

What a person who has never met you thinks is never more important than what you think of yourself.” Erivo gushed about her experience of making “Wicked,” highlighting that to have “a dream come true is very special, but to know you had a dream come true with people you love is extra special.” When asked about portraying Elphaba as a Black woman, the actor mentioned she “asked for the braids and the nails” of her character and that she “wanted to imbue this character with the person underneath and the proudness I feel about being a Black woman.” “The green stands for every person who feels othered,” she continued. “There is a layer of who I am underneath and Black women walk into spaces that are not necessarily welcoming.

It was important to tell that story and have that as a layer and I was lucky enough to have a director who allowed me to tell that story.