Cynthia Erivo trivia: 29 facts about the actress

Cynthia Erivo is an English actress. She gained her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Harriet Taubam in the film Harriet.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about her life and career thus far.

1. Her full name is Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo
2. She was born on January 8, 1987
3. She is an English actress, singer, and songwriter
4. She is known for her performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple
5. 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
6. The latter two she shared with the rest of the cast
7. Erivo ventured into films in 2018
8. With roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale
9. In 2019, she portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet
10. For the role she earned a nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award
11. Erivo was born to Nigerian parents in Stockwell, South London
12. Her mother is a nurse
13. She attended La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls’ School
14. Erivo began a music psychology degree at the University of East London
15. However, a year into her degree, she applied to, and subsequently trained at, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
16. Erivo first appeared in roles on English television programmes such as Chewing Gum and The Tunnel
17. Her first stage role was in Marine Parade by Simon Stephens at the Brighton Festival
18. Her first musical role was in John Adams’ and June Jordan’s I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky at Theatre Royal Stratford East
19. Erivo portrayed the title role in Harriet, a biographical film about American abolitionist Harriet Tubman
20. The film began production in October 2018, completed filming in January 2019, and was released on November 1, 2019
21. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
22. She also received a second nomination for Best Original Song for a song she co-wrote and performed for the film entitled “Stand Up”
23. In 2020, Erivo garnered nominations for two Academy Awards
24. One for Best Actress for her portrayal of Tubman and the other for Best Original Song for “Stand Up”
25. Erivo will also appear in Chaos Walking, based on Patrick Ness’ trilogy novels, with release expected in 2020
26. In January 2019, Erivo was cast in the HBO’s series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Outsider
27. She is set to play the character of investigator Holly Gibney
28. Erivo co-produced and was cast as the lead voice actor in the scripted thriller podcast Carrier from the audio firm Qcode Media
29. She played the series lead role of Raylene ‘Ray’ Watts, a long-haul truck driver transporting a trailer with “disturbing, mysterious contents”