Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has opened up about her sexuality in a new interview. The British actress, 37, appeared on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast.
Erivo has spoken before about being queer, using the term to describe herself to the Evening Standard in 2021. In 2022 she told British Vogue she identified as bisexual.
Speaking to Smith, she said she felt “really proud” of the way she shared the information.
“I feel very powerful. I feel very, very in my skin, in my body. And I love it. And I think the thing that has been really heartening is watching other young people go, ‘Oh my gosh, She’s like me. She gets it.’
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“There’s something really wonderful about watching someone who is just living, enjoying her life, working, creating, and just being. I think that that’s something that I don’t take for granted at all, but I do think it’s important for other young queer people who just are trying to find their way to themselves to see.”
Trepidation
Despite this, she said she still feels trepidation when talking about her sexuality. She still wonders whether some people will be offended when she uses the word “queer.”
“It’s been a really interesting journey also, because sometimes you approach it with a fair amount of trepidation like, ‘Are people going to be okay with me? How are people going to be, if I say the word queer, are people going to be offended?’ And then you sort of stop caring that much about that cause it’s just who I am. It’s just part of the tapestry of the human being that is in front of you.”
Erivo went on to say she’d enjoyed conversations about living as an out queer person with Wicked co-star and fellow Brit Jonathan Bailey and director Lena Waithe, with whom she is rumored to be in a relationship (although here Erivo referred to Waithe as a “good friend”).
“I’ve had some really good chats with Johnny Bailey. I’ve had some wonderful chats with Lena Waithe who is a good friend as well… just thoughtful deductions of what the world is and I think that’s what we end up talking about.
“Johnny and I had a really wonderful conversation about queerness and what that means for us and how we move through the world in our own queerness.
“He’s so passionate about making sure that there’s space for all of us… I think it was like an eye-opening conversation because it was the first time I really got to know him and I really liked that human being.”
Wicked’s success
Wicked enjoyed a huge opening at the box office last week. It took around $115 million domestically and $50 million outside of the US. It’s still to debut in several countries and signs are good that it will continue to do big business over the Thanksgiving weekend.
That US figure is the best for a non-sequel movie this year. It’s also the best ever for a Broadway adaptation (just ahead of the $103 million opening for Les Miserables).
Erivo was among the special guests yesterday at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York.
At one point, she was asked what she thought about fans of Wicked singing along during movie performances. Some movie theater chains have put up signs asking people not to sing. However, Erivo said she was cool with the singing.
“Good! I’m OK with it,” she said during a chat with Today‘s Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie. “We spent this long singing it ourselves, it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.”
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