Cynthia Erivo Says Her Take on Elphaba 'A Love Letter to Everyone Who Feels Different'

Cynthia Erivo is opening up about where she was coming from when she put on the green makeup to play Elphaba in "Wicked" – a wish to help all the others who might not fit in to "defy gravity."

Referencing a current popular meme, Variety wrote that "if we're holding space for the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity,' there's a reason (aside from Erivo's generational vocal talent). The song hits differently when she belts it because underneath all that green is a Black queer woman."

Adds the entertainment outlet: "It's the kind of distinction that shouldn't matter, but considering 'Wicked' is an allegory for the arbitrary nature of racism and discrimination, there's something particularly impactful about the character being portrayed by a person of color who is intimately aware of Elphaba's oppression and her daily battle against it."

In comments to the magazine, the London-born actor said, "I hope it's a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all of the Black women who have walked into rooms and felt like they haven't been welcomed. To anyone who's walked into a room and felt like they haven't been welcomed.

"I am really glad to be the conduit through which this character has been brought to the world," Erivo went on to say, before adding that the character of Elphaba is an "incredible gift... whose raison d'etre is to show that all of your difference is what makes you special. That you can soar above anyone's expectations, that you can be everything you're meant to be, and that the search to finding that can be hard, but when it happens, it can be really freeing, really beautiful."

Erivo's performance – and the musical's signature song, which she performs at the end of the film, which is Part One of a duology – has gained a grip over the culture's imagination that's lately been summarized by the phrase "holding space."

The phrase, and its accompanying memes, originated with "a viral moment born in an interview between journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist and 'Wicked' stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo," Variety reported in an earlier article.

During the interview, the two leads from the Jon M. Chu film adaptation gave an emotional response to a query posed by Gilchrist, a journalist and executive with EqualPride, a media brand that encompasses The Advocate, Out, Pride, and other publications.

"I've seen this week people are taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that and feeling power in that," Gilchrist says in a widely-circulated clip from the interview.

Erivo responds by putting her hand to her heart and murmuring, "I didn't know that that was happening," and then, visibly moved, adds, "That's really powerful.

"That's what I wanted," Erivo goes on to say, glancing at co-star Grande, who is seated to her right.

At that point, Grande reaches over to take hold of Erivo's finger affectionately, saying, "Mmm, yeah."

The finger caress proved as powerful as the song being discussed, perhaps because it speaks to the ideas of friendship that the story of "Wicked" conveys. If queer observers hoped for evidence of a spark between the movie's two protagonists, that might be there as well – at least, according to Grande, who, in a different joint interview with Erivo, opined that it's not out of the question that her character, Glinda, "might be a little in the closet".

Does "Wicked" – or even just Erivo's performance of "Defying Gravity" – take your feet off the ground?