Cynthia Erivo Named Out Magazine's 2024 'Icon of the Year;' Featured on Out100 Cover
She is also included in Out100's annual list of the most impactful people in the LGBTQ+ community.
By: Josh Sharpe Oct. 17, 2024
Just in time for the publication's 30th anniversary, Out Magazine has named Wicked star Cynthia Erivo their 2024 'Icon of the Year,' featuring the performer on the cover of the latest Out100 issue. In previous years, influential LGBTQ+ figures like Ariana DeBose, Billy Porter, and Brandi Carlile have graced the covers of the magazine. Erivo joins those names, having been included in Out100's annual list of the most impactful people in the LGBTQ+ community.
In the interview itself, Erivo talks about playing Elphaba as a Black queer woman, her love of the stage musical, and the massive responses she has already received, despite the film not releasing for another month.
“It's hard to talk about Elphaba as an other without having it intrinsically linked to being a woman who walks through the world as a queer Black woman. Immediately I understood what it meant for people to look at you and see you as not beautiful, not acceptable, not any of those things, because I walked through the world like this,” Erivo explained.
She goes on to say that Oz itself is a welcome place for queer people, with many in the cast identifying as part of that community. "Because of how many differences each of us holds within ourselves as people and how many differences our characters hold, [the film] intrinsically wants to be a queer canon," said Erivo. Read the full story HERE, which is part of the Out November/December issue. It will hit newsstands on October 29.
Erivo made her Broadway debut reprising her starring role as 'Celie' in the critically acclaimed revival of "The Color Purple." She first played the role in 2013 at London's Menier Chocolate Factory and her performance on Broadway earned her several awards, including the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, a Grammy award as a principal soloist on original cast recording of "The Color Purple" (Best Musical Theater Album), a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the Drama Desk Award, Theatre World, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Erivo is also a two-time Academy Award nominee for her leading performance and original song for the film Harriet.
The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. Joining them is Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. The first part will be released on November 22, 2024, with Part Two hitting theaters on November 21, 2025.
Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas
Videos