Cynthia Erivo

Birth Name: Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo

Nickname/Stage Name: Cynthia Erivo

Birth Date: January 8, 1987

Genres: Drama, Romance, Sci-fi

Occupation(s): Actress, Singer, Songwriter

Years Active: 2011 till Present

Net Worth: $3 million

 

Personal Life

Cynthia Erivo was born in South London to Nigerian parents. She is Roman Catholic and was in a relationship with singer Dean John-Wilson.

She is presently dating Mario Martinez in 2017.

Education

The actress attended La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School. She started studying Music Psychology at the University of East London but dropped out a year after.

She was subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

Erivo got her first acting roles in British TV programmes like Chewing Gum (2012) and The Tunnel (2013). She first acted on stage in the theatrical production Marine Parade​​​​​​.

It wasn't until 2018 that she made her Hollywood debut in the neo-noir thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. Her performance was praised by critics.

She played the titular character in the biographical film Harriet, a drama based on the life of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman. 

In 2020, she starred in the HBO miniseries The Outsider. Her other film credits include Widows, Chaos Walking, and Needle in a Timestack.

Awards

Tony Award (2016)

Drama Desk Award (2016)

Outer Critics Circle Award (2016)

Theatre World Award (2016)

Daytime Emmy Award (2017)

Grammy Award (2017)

Hollywood Film Award (2019)

Hollywood Music in Media Award (2019)

Women Film Critics Circle Award (2019)

World Soundtrack Award (2019)

Black Reel Award (2020)

London Critics Circle Film Award (2020)

Palm Springs International Film Festival Award (2020)

Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award (2020)

Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards (2020)

Quotes

"Each one of my characters has some part of me."

"Someone asked me how I do it when there's like events and parties and I said I tried to make connections with people. I find it easier when I can try and make individual connections with people."

"I want to be perceived as the woman who takes the hard route. I want to find the stories that people don't get to see very often, and I want to mine the characters for the complexity that women have."

Trivia

She is a descendant of the Igbo-speaking tribe of Nigeria.

She is one out of the eleven actresses nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award.

Both her parents are Nigerians.

Movies

Widows (2018)

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Harriet (2019)

Chaos Walking (2021)

Needle in a Timestack (2021)