During a recent sit-down with Vanity Fair alongside her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, British-Nigerian actress and singer Cynthia Erivo touched on various topics including her relationship status and why she prefers to keep that aspect of her life away from the public eye.
Erivo, who identifies as queer, explained her reason behind that when she refused to answer a question about her relationship status. “I’m very tight-lipped with my relationships, ’cause I don’t think that my relationship is for anyone else but for me,” the 37-year-old stated.
“I spend so much of my life sharing everything—whether it’s my work or my soul or my life in speeches. I think I give enough of myself that I’m allowed to keep something for me.”
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Despite that stance, the Harriet star said she could eventually have a change of mind at a certain point. “And who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind at some point,” she said. “But, I think it’s okay. It’s enough for people to know that I’m a queer person who could have relationships with men or women or neither.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Erivo touched on being a prominent Black queer figure in Hollywood and how her evolution over the last couple of years has felt like.
“I feel really grateful for getting to see the full picture of who I am and who I want to be,” she said. “I feel comfortable in myself. There’s an ease that I’ve experienced these last couple of years where I just feel very, very much like me.”
Erivo added: “I know that there are young people who are seeking out women in entertainment who are proudly queer and just thriving and living and enjoying their lives.”
Erivo has in the past spoken about Hollywood’s lack of representation in award shows. After scooping two nominations at the Oscars in 2020, she admitted the feeling was bittersweet as she was the only person of color to be nominated in the acting categories, Face2Face Africa reported at the time.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in an interview with Roxane Gay, Erivo, while admitting her excitement, also expressed her sadness at the lack of representation in Hollywood and called for more to be done.
“It is a moment for celebration, but it also is a real eye-opener. It can’t just be me alone,” she said. “There’s just such good work going on and this may sound fatalistic, but I would hate for people’s work to have gone by and then for us to have looked back and go, ‘Oh, I wish we would’ve given roses,’ when people aren’t there to actually receive them. I don’t want us to do that.”
She continued: “To be in a room and not being able to see other actors [of color] who are nominated, to not be able to share that with another black actress is saddening. I would love to share this moment with someone else.”
