On Sunday afternoon, actress and singer Cynthia Erivo 鈥� best known for her portrayals of Celie Harris in the Broadway musical 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� and Harriet Tubman in the film 鈥淗arriet鈥� 鈥� gave a virtual talk at the 2024 Ivy Film Festival.
IFF members Ailsa Kokoricha 鈥�26 and Lulu Cavicchi 鈥�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 鈥渢he idea of being able to tell different people鈥檚 stories, become different people and use (her) imagination,鈥� 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 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� 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 鈥� allowing her to transition to on-screen roles more easily. While she plans to venture into producing and directing due to her 鈥渃uriosity for creativity,鈥� 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 鈥渢here鈥檚 nothing recorded of her 鈥� only written and photographed,鈥� 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 鈥渓istened to a lot of (Aretha Franklin鈥檚) music and watched a lot of her interviews鈥� to learn more about Franklin鈥檚 development as an artist while preparing to portray her in the television series 鈥淕enius: Aretha.鈥�
When discussing representation and identity, Erivo said that her 鈥渞aison d鈥櫭猼re 鈥� is to make sure that there鈥檚 always space for other people.鈥� She formed her production company, Edith鈥檚 Daughter, to 鈥渃reate spaces for other people who haven鈥檛 had the chance to be in the business.鈥� 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 鈥�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 鈥渆nd up looking for something that makes (them) feel whole.鈥�
鈥淵ou cannot keep living for everybody else,鈥� Erivo said. 鈥淚t is impossible to sustain.鈥�
Hearing 鈥渉ow grounded she is, how much she鈥檚 committed to always working on her craft and always making sure that she鈥檚 staying creative鈥� was inspirational, Soetan told The Herald.
Other attendees asked Erivo about her experiences at RADA and the process of filming her upcoming movie 鈥淲icked鈥� with Ariana Grande.
Erivo 鈥渉as been a huge inspiration to me for so many years,鈥� said Teniayo-Ola Macaulay 鈥�25, an aspiring Nigerian actress who is also from England, in an interview with The Herald. 鈥淭he advice that (Erivo) gave us is something I will take with me as I get into my career,鈥� 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.
