Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo (born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter.
She is known for her performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the latter two she shared with the rest of the cast.
Erivo ventured into films in 2018, with roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. In 2019, she portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet, for which she earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Watch Cynthia Erivo Perform 'Change Is Gonna Come' in 'Genius: Aretha' (Exclusive)
etonline.comis back tonight with two more as the National Geographic anthology series continues to tell the story of Aretha Franklin’s life and career with Cynthia Erivo portraying the music legend.ET has an exclusive clip from episode 3, “Do Right Woman,” in which Franklin is juggling her music career and her commitment to the civil rights movement before audiences get to see her perform “A Change Is Gonna Come.” The song, originally recorded by Sam Cooke in 1964, is a popular civil rights anthem inspired by the singer’s experience being turned away from a motel for being Black.
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