Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo still feels ‘fear’ coming out to people as queer
Cynthia Erivo reflects on her coming our journey. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty)
Queer Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has reflected on how her coming out was “deeply refreshing” but tinged with “fear and trepidation.”
The actor and singer has opened up about identifying as queer after playing Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba in the box-office hit. Ariana Grande plays good witch Glinda, in the story set long before Dorothy dropped into Oz.
The film focuses on the pair during their time at Shiz University as they go from enemies to friends while the world’s magical talking animals face mounting prejudice.
Appearing on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Erivo, who also starred in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple said: “I feel very in [Elphaba’s] skin and in my body. I love it.
“The thing that has been really heartening has been watching young people going: ‘Oh my gosh, she’s like me’. There’s something wonderful about watching someone who is enjoying her life and creating.”
However, Erivo acknowledged that she occasionally worries about how others perceive her.
“Sometimes you approach with fear and trepidation… [wondering] are people going to be OK with me and if I say the word ‘queer’ are people going to be offended. Then you stop caring that much… it’s just who I am. It’s part of the tapestry of the human being in front of you.
“I’m never hiding myself. After making the decision to show up in a room as myself, always, the choice is not anyone else’s to see me, it’s mine to show myself.
“I’m not waiting for anyone to see me. That doesn’t mean that sometimes I don’t feel invisible… but that doesn’t take away from the fact I know I’m here and myself. If you see me, you see me. If you don’t, you don’t.”
Erivo is said to be dating actress and producer Lena Waithe and came out in May 2022 in an interview with British Vogue.
“For me, it means taking a risk to claim the freedom of being one’s full self,” she said at the time about what it is to be a queer woman of colour. “I could feel myself actively hiding that part of myself and it didn’t feel good. That takes a lot of energy to uphold and there is zero return.
“I felt I was looking at my community from inside a glass box. I don’t want to watch from inside that box any more… there’s not enough room and no ventilation!”
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