Cynthia Erivo will never be predictable
With her three back-to-back releases, Cynthia Erivo’s cementing her status as one of the most versatile actresses of her generation.
WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN “I want to keep you guessing. I want to keep you entertained,” Cynthia Erivo tells GAY TIMES. “I want you to be like, ‘I have no idea who she’s going to play next.’” From a Liberian refugee in Drift to a serial killer hunter in Luther: The Fallen Sun and her upcoming Witch of the West in Wicked – all back-to-back, we should add (that’s Meryl Streep behaviour) – the Oscar-nominated actress is determined to have a back-catalogue of “varied” and diverse characters that “tell different stories I haven’t told before”: “I try to make sure that I don’t do the same thing more than once.” Ahead of Wicked: Part One, launching 27 November, Erivo is celebrating her compellingly restrained role in the aforementioned Drift; Anthony Chen’s acclaimed drama that follows Jacqueline, a young refugee who is forced to sleep on the beach, massage holiday-markers and steal in order to survive.
There, she finds some much-needed connection in Callie (Alia Shawkat), a tour guide who, like Jacqueline, is “wounded” by past trauma. “At this point, Jacqueline hasn’t necessarily connected with anyone or told anyone her story, probably because she’s suffering from PTSD and hasn’t been able to find the words,” says Erivo. “As they spend time with each other, Jacqueline becomes more open and willing to share her story.
She does, and when she does, I think it shocks her.” Here, we speak with Cynthia Erivo about why she was drawn to Drift, the trailblazing depiction of her character’s queerness and the need for more diverse and “human” stories about the LGBTQIA+ community.
