Where You've Seen Brilliant Wicked Star Cynthia Erivo Before

The trailer for "Wicked" just premiered during the Super Bowl and it features recognizable stars like Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande. But playing the future Wicked Witch Elphaba is someone who might be hard to recognize under all that green make-up: Cynthia Erivo. She's not a household name (not yet, at least), but there's a decent chance you've seen (or heard) her somewhere without realizing it. 

Erivo is an English actress who rose to prominence with one of her first major theater roles: Celie Harris in the musical stage adaptation of "The Color Purple." She went on to feature in the musical film "Beyond the Lights," then took on the role of Chenice in the West End musical "I Can't Sing!" The name of that show was misleading: Erivo very much could sing, and would continue receiving bigger and better roles as a result. She soon made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of "The Color Purple," once again taking the role of Celie Harris. The role deservedly won her the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

But if you don't regularly watch stage musicals, you've likely seen her in one of her many acclaimed film and TV roles. 

In 2018, Erivo made her film debut with a praise-worthy performance in "Bad Times at the El Royale." The same year she starred in "Widows" as a struggling single mother named Belle. She then landed the major role of Harriet Tubman in the 2019 biopic "Harriet," earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and proving herself as someone who could handle heavy, intense material.

In 2020 she starred in an HBO miniseries adapting Stephen King's horror novel, "The Outsider," and soon after starred in the sci-fi film "Chaos Walking." In 2021 she portrayed Aretha Franklin in the anthology series "Genius," which was also around the point where she returned to her musical career. She released her first studio album ("Ch. 1 Vs 1,") in September 2021.

By the time she was announced as a lead role in "Wicked," there was no debate she was a great fit for the pat. She has an amazing voice and has a strong presence, both on the stage and in front of the camera. "Wicked" is a musical that lets its leads show off their vocal skills, most notably in the show-stopper "Defying Gravity," which can be heard playing throughout the trailer. There's no doubt that Erivo can pull this off. She may not be as famous as co-star Ariana Grande, but she certainly deserves to be singing alongside her. 

"Wicked" will be released in theaters on Thanksgiving Day, 2024.