Image via Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cynthia Erivo at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018.
Cynthia Erivo has a new role, and it is one of the biggest of her career. On November 4, Universal confirmed she will play Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, in Snoop, the Snoop Dogg biopic due in cinemas on August 6, 2027.
It is the latest step in a run that has barely slowed down. She guest-judged on Dancing With the Stars this week. Her film Prima Facie opens in UK and Irish cinemas on November 13. And Children of Blood and Bone follows on January 15, 2027. At 39, Erivo is working at the very top of her game, on stage and on screen.
The role that changed everything
Most people first met Erivo as Celie in The Color Purple. She played the part in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2013, then took it to Broadway in 2015. She stayed with the show for two years.
The performance won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2016. A Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album followed, along with a Daytime Emmy. Three of the four honours that make up an EGOT were hers by the age of 30. Only the Oscar is still missing.
Celie is a hard part. The character carries the whole show, and the songs ask a lot of any singer. Erivo's "I'm Here" became the moment audiences talked about on the way home. It is still the performance her name is tied to in theatre circles.
Stockwell to RADA
Erivo was born Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo on January 8, 1987, in Stockwell, south London. Her parents were Igbo immigrants from Nigeria. Her mother, Edith, worked as a nurse. Her parents split up when she was young, and her mother raised her and her younger sister Stephanie.
She went to La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School in Clapham. Music came first: she started a music psychology degree at the University of East London in 2004. A year in, she applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art instead. She got in, and she graduated in 2010.
Her West End debut came in 2011 in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She toured the UK in Sister Act, where she met actor Dean John-Wilson. Small parts and guest spots followed, and she built a name as a singer who could act, not just an actor who could sing.
Harriet and the film years
Erivo's film career started in 2018 with two crime films, Widows and Bad Times at the El Royale. Then came the part that changed her screen career: Harriet Tubman in Harriet (2019). She played Tubman across three decades of her life, from escape to the Underground Railroad.
The role brought her two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Actress and one for Best Original Song, for "Stand Up", which she co-wrote. She was 32, and she had gone from West End stages to the Oscars in six years.
Television gave her two more defining roles. She played Holly Gibney in HBO's The Outsider in 2020, and Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha in 2021. She also appeared in Pinocchio as the Blue Fairy, Luther: The Fallen Sun and the survival drama Drift.
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Widows | Belle |
| 2018 | Bad Times at the El Royale | Darlene Sweet |
| 2019 | Harriet | Harriet Tubman |
| 2021 | Chaos Walking | Hildy |
| 2022 | Pinocchio | Blue Fairy |
| 2023 | Luther: The Fallen Sun | Odette Raine |
| 2023 | Drift | Jacqueline |
| 2024 | Wicked | Elphaba |
| 2025 | Wicked: For Good | Elphaba |
| 2026 | Prima Facie | Tessa |
| 2027 | Children of Blood and Bone | — |
| 2027 | Snoop | Afeni Shakur |
Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Cynthia Erivo at the Wicked premiere in Mexico City.
Elphaba
Then came Wicked. Erivo played Elphaba, the green witch, opposite Ariana Grande's Glinda in Jon M. Chu's two-part film version of the stage hit. The first film opened in late 2024 and took more than $758 million around the world. It picked up 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Erivo.
The sequel, Wicked: For Good, followed in 2025, with new songs written for the films. It brought Erivo a third Best Actress nomination at the Oscars. She also became the first Black actress to earn two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
Erivo has said the role spoke to her because Elphaba is an outsider who refuses to shrink herself to fit in. She sang "Defying Gravity" live on set, and the press tour turned the two films into one of the biggest cinema events of the last two years.
The singer, too
Acting is only half the story. Erivo is a singer-songwriter, and she has released two solo albums: Ch. 1 Vs. 1 in 2021 and I Forgive You in 2025. She wrote a children's book, Remember to Dream, Ebere, in 2021. She also runs her own production company, Edith's Daughter, named after her mother.
In June 2025 she hosted the 78th Tony Awards. In the 2026 New Year Honours she was made a Member
of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music and drama. She is also the honorary Vice President of RADA, the school that trained her.
Image via Kevin Paul / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Cynthia Erivo at a Wicked FYC panel in Santa Monica.
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Musical | The Color Purple | Won |
| 2017 | Grammy Award | Best Musical Theater Album | The Color Purple | Won |
| 2017 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Musical Performance | The Color Purple | Won |
| 2020 | Academy Award | Best Actress | Harriet | Nominated |
| 2020 | Academy Award | Best Original Song | "Stand Up" (Harriet) | Nominated |
| 2025 | Academy Award | Best Actress | Wicked | Nominated |
| 2026 | Academy Award | Best Actress | Wicked: For Good | Nominated |
Cynthia Erivo at a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo |
| Born | 8 January 1987, Stockwell, London, England |
| Age | 39 (turns 40 on 8 January 2027) |
| Nationality | British |
| Height | 5 ft 1 in (155 cm) |
| Profession | Actress, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (graduated 2010) |
| Parents | Edith Erivo (mother, nurse) |
| Siblings | Younger sister Stephanie |
| Partner | Not married; reports have linked her to writer-producer Lena Waithe |
| Children | None |
| Net worth | Estimated at around $5 million (estimates range from $3 million to $15 million) |
Personal life
Erivo is not married, and she keeps her private life mostly out of the press. Reports have linked her to writer and producer Lena Waithe. Before that she was in a relationship with actor Dean John-Wilson, whom she met on the Sister Act tour, from 2013 to 2017, and with actor and musician Mario Martinez from 2017 to 2019.
She splits her time between Los Angeles and London, and she has two dogs, Caleb and Gigi. She has spoken openly about being bisexual. Away from work, the through-line is the same as it was in Stockwell: a voice, a work ethic, and a refusal to be put in one box.
She was back on US television this week as a guest judge on Dancing With the Stars for Disney Night, stepping in while pro Adele Zaikman sat out ill. It was the same episode in which Julia Stiles was sent home.
FAQs
How old is Cynthia Erivo?
She is 39. She was born on January 8, 1987, and she turns 40 in January 2027.
Is Cynthia Erivo married?
No. She is not married. Reports have linked her to writer and producer Lena Waithe.
What is Cynthia Erivo's net worth?
There is no confirmed figure. Celebrity sites put it at around $5 million, though estimates run from $3 million to $15 million.
Has Cynthia Erivo won an Oscar?
Not yet. She has been nominated four times, for Harriet and both Wicked films. She already holds a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy, so an Oscar would complete the EGOT.
What is Cynthia Erivo's next movie?
Prima Facie opens in UK and Irish cinemas on November 13, 2026. Children of Blood and Bone follows in January 2027, and Snoop, in which she plays Afeni Shakur, arrives in August 2027.
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