Wicked: How Cynthia Erivo Drew on Real Pain to Play Elphaba
Elphaba's estranged relationship with her father hit a little too close to home for Erivo.
In Wicked Part One, multi-talented Cynthia Erivo plays the character of Elphaba Thropp, a green-skinned young woman whose father — Governor Frexspar Thropp of Munchkinland (Andy Nyman) — has shunned her since the day she was born.
While his wife was pregnant with their second daughter, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), the governor insisted that his spouse consume milk flowers in order to prevent the birth of a second "abomination. "Unfortunately, this strict homeopathic regimen yielded a premature birth and two unforeseen complications: Elphaba's mother died in labor and Nessarose ended up handicapped for life.
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As a result, Frexspar's irrational hatred of his firstborn increased tenfold, with the man making no effort to hide his preferential treatment of Nessarose as the two girls came of age. Such an unfortunate estrangement between parent and child was not a foreign concept to Erivo, who was disowned by her own father at the age of 16.
How real-world trauma informed Cynthia Erivo's performance in Wicked
“Elphaba doesn’t exist if you don’t have the experience of what that all feels like,” Erivo, who scored a Golden Globe nomination for her work on the long-awaited film adaptation, said in a recent interview with Deadline. “You can’t understand the kind of pain that she’s going through if you don’t actually go through that kind of pain. You can’t understand what it feels like to be in a room and feel you don’t belong. Actually don’t belong."
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Posting on Instagram back in 2020, Erivo reflected on the silver lining of that traumatic moment, writing: "It wasn’t good... but here is the most wonderful thing about that moment, it has made space for some of the most incredible men who have created an army of strength and vulnerability and love and care around me. They have filled that room over and over."
How can you watch Wicked in theaters?
Boasting an excellent score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, Wicked Part One is now playing in theaters everywhere. Click here to pick up tickets for yourself and the whole family! The sequel — Wicked Part Two — is set to follow on November 21, 2025.
To date, the film has grossed nearly half a billion dollars at the global box office.
