Actress and singer Cynthia Erivo continues to grow in the industry after being nominated for Best Actress for her role as Elphaba in Wicked. At the 97th Academy Awards, the actress is up for her third Oscar nomination, placing her back in the lead to become the youngest EGOT winner.
Cynthia Erivo is the second black woman to be nominated multiple times in the Best Actress category after Viola Davis https://t.co/HCtInzyVLx pic.twitter.com/STMGjEiyhm
— Jack Murphy (@OscarFilmFC) January 23, 2025
Erivo has already won a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program which were all for the 2015 Broadway Musical The Color Purple.
This isn’t the performer’s first time trying to get the EGOT title. In 2020, she had two chances at EGOT status when she received two Oscar nominations for her role in Harriet. The nominations were for Best Actress and Best Original Song for “Stand Up,” the film’s lead single.
Cynthia Erivo not winning Best Actress for this gargantuan tour de force performance at the #NAACPImageAwards or anywhere else for that matter is CRAZY. Somebody is LYING.pic.twitter.com/mgHgW9MU9h
— Afro-Korean Oscar🇨🇮 (@siralphey) February 23, 2025
The talented actress is the second Black woman to play Elphaba in a major motion picture. When speaking to Variety, Erivo expressed, “I feel like I’ve been given this incredible gift of a character whose raison d’etre is to show that all of your difference is what makes you special. That you can soar above anyone’s expectations, that you can be everything you’re meant to be, and that the search to finding that can be hard, but when it happens, it can be really freeing, really beautiful.”
However, it doesn’t stop with the role of Elphaba. The star has been receiving nominations left and right from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Satellite Awards. Currently, the title for the youngest EGOT winner is held by John Legend, songwriter Robert Lopez, and duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
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Erivo took to her Instagram to express her gratitude over her latest Oscar nomination stating, “Moments like this don’t come along very often, and when they do, it is sacrilege to let them pass by without a moment of gratitude. I am grateful, grateful to @theacademy, grateful to be a part of something that makes people feel seen, grateful to be a cog in the wheel of a piece that makes us believe in magic, grateful to have experienced a dream come true, and deeply deeply grateful for this unbelievable recognition.”
Fans can see if Erivo takes home EGOT status at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2nd.
Image Credit: Marleen Moise / Staff | Getty Images
