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Fans across the world will be whisked away to the magical Land Of Oz when eagerly anticipated fantasy adventure Wicked: For Good is released in November.
It will be a proud moment for its ensemble cast, notably Cynthia Erivo, the British actress charged with bringing green skinned Elphaba Thropp to life in director Jon M. Chu’s big screen adaptation of the hugely popular stage musical.
But Erivo, 38, admits continued success and the joy it brings to those who have championed her career, particularly her supportive mother Edith, is underpinned by a personal sadness.
Estranged from her father, who she last saw when she was 16, the actress says he has not been present to witness her ascent following an unlikely dispute over a ticket in a London tube station.
Discussing their final exchange, Erivo – unveiled as the latest GQ Men Of The Year cover star – recalled: ‘”This will be the last time I ever see you,” he said. Just like that.
‘I just didn’t see it coming. I guess you wouldn’t, would you?’
Cynthia Erivo has been unveiled as the latest GQ Men Of The Year cover star and will be awarded when the ceremony takes place on November 18
The actress has reprised her role as green-skinned Elphaba Thropp in The Wizard Of Oz prequel Wicked: For Good (pictured)
The actress subsequently lost all contact with her biological father and admits she knows nothing about his life, vocation, relationships or religious leanings.
Nor does she have a contact number, but Erivo admits she’s reminded of him whenever she looks in a mirror or sees a picture of herself, because they share the same facial features – notably a distinctive gap between their two front teeth.
‘It’s a supreme joke,’ she told GQ. ‘It’s a joke from the universe to remind me how human I am.
‘I used to hear him all the time – he had a lovely voice. And so I think that’s where my voice comes from, which is so annoying and crazy, but… fine. It is what it is.
‘It’s what the universe does. This is the lemon. Make lemonade.’
And Erivo believes her acceptance of the situation has insulated herself from any emotional repercussions and prevents her from seeking answers regarding his decision to walk away so abruptly.
‘I don’t think it serves me,’ she said. ‘It’s his why. It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t mean that we’ll have a relationship. And I think I’ve found the closure I want, my own way.
‘Whatever needed to happen after that moment happened. And now we’re sitting here talking about me being Man of the Year.’
Erivo with her supportive mother Edith as a child. The actress is completely estranged from her biological father following an unlikely dispute over a ticket in a London tube station
Erivo’s production company Edith’s Daughter was named in tribute to her mother, with whom she maintains a close bond (pictured together in 2016)
She added: ‘Everyone jokes that I let go of things really quickly. That I move past things really, really quickly.
‘I think I just choose to acknowledge that something has happened, or something is happening, and I’m not in denial that it’s happening.
‘It’s just that that is life. Tomorrow is another day, and the day after that is another day, and life has not stopped today.
‘So if I drag this thing into the next day, month, how do I function? How do I then move forwards?
‘I think that is death. To be stuck.’
Cynthia Erivo will be honoured at the GQ Men of the Year event in London on November 18.
