Cynthia Erivo is looking back at the emotional storm that came with starring in Wicked and Wicked: For Good. According to Variety, the actress opened up about the intense pressure of leading the two-part musical franchise alongside Ariana Grande, calling the experience both life-changing and deeply challenging. Erivo, who played Elphaba opposite Grande’s Glinda, said the past four years often felt overwhelming.
“We were holding on by threads,” she said, explaining that she and Grande tried to protect and support each other through the global fame, endless press tours and online scrutiny.
The actress said she and Grande made a conscious decision early on to nurture their bond while promoting the films. Their matching red carpet looks, joint interviews and visible closeness became a major part of the Wicked campaign.
However, Erivo said many people online questioned whether their friendship was real.
“I think that people didn’t really believe that we were actually friends,” she said. “But that’s also because people don’t know me very well. If I’m a friend, then I’m a friend.”
She added that she and Grande still text almost every day.
Erivo also spoke about how some viewers seemed to confuse her with Elphaba herself, especially because she spent so much time publicly associated with the green-skinned character.
“People thought I was being myself, even though I was green,” she said.
The attention became even more difficult during the second film’s press tour. Variety reported that at the Singapore premiere, a man jumped the barrier and grabbed Ariana Grande. Erivo immediately stepped in to protect her co-star.
“Nobody moved,” Erivo recalled. “So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away.’”
While many praised her quick reaction, others turned the moment into jokes and memes, calling her Grande’s “bodyguard.” Erivo said those reactions exposed a deeper issue in how Black women are often perceived.
She said the jokes focused on her body, her shaved head and her physicality, turning a protective instinct into something aggressive or controlling.
“I think that we haven’t really come to terms with the insidious nature of how we view Black women,” she said.
Erivo admitted that the backlash made her less interested in campaigning heavily during awards season, saying she felt her humanity had been twisted.
“I just felt like my humanity had been bastardized,” she said.
Despite the difficult moments, Erivo said Wicked changed her life in beautiful ways. She is now back on stage in London with her one-woman Dracula show, where she plays 23 characters and performs around 20,000 words of dialogue each night.
She is also looking ahead to new roles, including playing South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba in The Road Home.
As for a possible third Wicked film, Erivo said there have been no real discussions yet and that it would take a strong reason for her to return.
“It would take a lot to get me back to do it,” she said. “It has to make sense.”
Still, one of the brightest parts of Wicked remains the friendships she built. Along with Grande, Erivo also praised her bond with Jonathan Bailey, who played Fiyero.
She said it was meaningful that two queer actors could play a straight romantic pairing and still make audiences believe in the love story.
“There’s something really special about that,” she said.