On Sunday afternoon, actress and singer Cynthia Erivo — best known for her portrayals of Celie Harris in the Broadway musical “The Color Purple” and Harriet Tubman in the film “Harriet” — gave a virtual talk at the 2024 Ivy Film Festival.
IFF members Ailsa Kokoricha ’26 and Lulu Cavicchi ’25, an illustrator for post- magazine, moderated the discussion at the Granoff Martinos Auditorium, followed by an audience Q&A session.
Throughout the talk, Erivo detailed her career in theater and her later transition to the screen. When she was young, she liked “the idea of being able to tell different people’s stories, become different people and use (her) imagination,” which motivated her to pursue acting, she said.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which is commonly abbreviated as RADA, Erivo first played Celie Harris in a production of “The Color Purple” in London, before reprising the role on Broadway. According to Erivo, theater and film were much more separated in London, but in the United States she found that Broadway was much more integrated with the film industry — allowing her to transition to on-screen roles more easily. While she plans to venture into producing and directing due to her “curiosity for creativity,” she said she is still unsure if she will venture into screenwriting.
Later, Erivo explained her creative process when portraying historical figures, such as Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. The role of Harriet Tubman was difficult because “there’s nothing recorded of her … only written and photographed,” she said, forcing her to use her imagination and draw inspiration from the sources that she had. She added that she had used her own experiences being short to build her portrayal of Tubman, opting to use a low-pitched voice to convey strength, rather than playing into the assumption that shorter people have higher-pitched voices.
Erivo also added that she “listened to a lot of (Aretha Franklin’s) music and watched a lot of her interviews” to learn more about Franklin’s development as an artist while preparing to portray her in the television series “Genius: Aretha.”
When discussing representation and identity, Erivo said that her “raison d’être … is to make sure that there’s always space for other people.” She formed her production company, Edith’s Daughter, to “create spaces for other people who haven’t had the chance to be in the business.” And as the new vice president of RADA, Erivo plans to expand her mission to increase representation in education by connecting with students and learning about their needs.
During the audience Q&A session, Oluwasiji Soetan ’25 asked Erivo how she explained to her parents her decision to pursue acting. In response, Erivo advised attendees to follow their dreams, adding \that those who live for others will eventually “end up looking for something that makes (them) feel whole.”
“You cannot keep living for everybody else,” Erivo said. “It is impossible to sustain.”
Hearing “how grounded she is, how much she’s committed to always working on her craft and always making sure that she’s staying creative” was inspirational, Soetan told The Herald.
Other attendees asked Erivo about her experiences at RADA and the process of filming her upcoming movie “Wicked” with Ariana Grande.
Erivo “has been a huge inspiration to me for so many years,” said Teniayo-Ola Macaulay ’25, an aspiring Nigerian actress who is also from England, in an interview with The Herald. “The advice that (Erivo) gave us is something I will take with me as I get into my career,” Macaulay added.
The Ivy Film Festival concluded later on Sunday evening with their last official selection screening followed by an awards ceremony.
Manav is a sophomore from Indiana, concentrating in International and Public Affairs. In his free time, he likes attempting the daily Connections puzzle or falling down Wikipedia rabbit holes.
