ESSENCE spoke with the award-winning actress about the highly anticipated film and how sisterhood has enriched her life.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm Dominique Fluker, Lifestyle Editor at Essence Magazine, and a fellow Alpha Kappa
00:16Alpha Sorority Incorporated member.
00:19On behalf of Universal Pictures and Essence, I'm thrilled to welcome you to this exclusive
00:24advanced screening of Wicked.
00:26It's wonderful to be here celebrating not just a spectacular film, but also the legacy
00:32and sisterhood of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.
00:40Thank you, Sora Alicia, for your tireless work and leadership.
00:51I would also like to thank Cluster 3 co-coordinator, Sora Victoria Thomas.
01:02Thank you, too, for your leadership and tireless dedication.
01:07We always have a lot to celebrate, right?
01:11But tonight is ultra special, as we're honoring our incredible Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award
01:19winning Sora, Cynthia Erivo.
01:28As you know, she's multi-talented and starring in the fantastic film Wicked, which we will
01:34watch and dive into tonight.
01:36Let's all welcome Sora Cynthia to the stage.
01:40Gosh, hello, how are you?
01:44I'm well.
01:45How are you?
01:46Good, thank you.
01:47Hello, everyone.
01:49You're all so lovely.
01:52Sora Cynthia, everyone.
01:53You look amazing.
01:55Thank you very much.
01:56How are you?
01:57Green and gorgeous.
01:58Come on, Prada.
02:00Come on, shoes.
02:01Something light.
02:02Come on, dress.
02:03Yes, Bob.
02:04Okay.
02:05Step away.
02:06Okay.
02:07Right.
02:08Work.
02:09Yes.
02:10Hello.
02:11Okay, Sora, now let's get into it.
02:16Soras, AKA, means so much to me, and that's why I'm here today.
02:21I was initiated in 2015 in Xi Gamma Omega in Oakland, California.
02:28I want to give a special shout out to all of my far western region Soras out there,
02:34if you can hear me.
02:36Thank you for making me the woman who I am today.
02:40Speaking of authentic sisterhood, I'm sure everyone in the room would love to know how
02:46you feel about being part of our illustrious sisterhood.
02:49I'd love to hear your perspective on what it means to be an honorary AKA.
02:54So when I was asked, I want to say it was 2020 maybe, I was really overwhelmed by it
03:02because I'm a bit of a geek, so I'd been watching and seeing this culture of sisterhood happen
03:11around me as I was sort of like in this new country that hadn't been mine for a while.
03:17And so when I was asked to join, it felt like someone had given me a bit of a home to come
03:22to, you know what I mean?
03:23It felt like I'd been welcomed, and it's something really, and then specifically welcomed by
03:31black women, you know, who I see as my sisters everywhere, but coming here, it can be lonely
03:39and you're on your own, and I was, you know, in my career and without my family, and I was just solo.
03:48But then when I became an AKA, I wasn't solo anymore.
03:51And it's wherever I go, what started happening, I'd go to Chicago and do a concert, and then
03:57Soras would show up, and I'd get like green and pink gifts.
04:00Or I'd go to, I remember I went to Cleveland, and there were just gifts at the door, and
04:06just a note with Sora, hey, we just wanted to support you.
04:10And that means such a lot, it means that wherever you go, you're never alone.
04:15You always have someone who's looking out for you, who's celebrating you, who's lifting you up.
04:20So it was just such a special thing to have, yeah.
04:23That is so beautiful and so real.
04:26Now let's jump into this fabulous movie, Wicked.
04:30Wow, Sora.
04:33Thank you so much for your amazing performance.
04:35As you know, the film is brimming with essential themes of sisterhood, and real sisterhood
04:42is standing by your sister side by side during challenging moments, accepting for her for
04:50who she is, and atoning for your mistakes like many of our Soras do for each other.
04:55Can you recall a time when you experienced true sisterhood with an AKA?
04:59With an AKA, I feel like the thing that I just described feels like true sisterhood.
05:08I mean, you show up, you haven't seen someone for a really long time, but somehow they always
05:13manage to be there.
05:14Right.
05:14It's that, you know?
05:16I think that, so I met, I saw Sonny just outside.
05:22Sonny, are you here?
05:23Sonny's right here.
05:26Sonny's right here.
05:27And before, we went to take a picture together, and I was like, okay, we're going to take
05:32the picture, let's go.
05:32And she grabbed me by my shoulders and was like, how are you?
05:37Are you okay?
05:37Right.
05:39Like, it's moments like that where you get to zero in with a person and they see you
05:44for, like, they stop you and see you.
05:46Right.
05:47They go, I've got you.
05:48Wait a minute.
05:48Right.
05:49Are you actually okay?
05:50How are you?
05:52That's, for me, what sisterhood is.
05:55That's for checking for each other.
05:57Like, actually looking at someone's eyes and going, I want to make sure you're okay.
06:02Yeah.
06:02Before we speed past, you know?
06:05Right.
06:06Take that.
06:06Thank you, by the way.
06:07I didn't get to say thank you for that.
06:08Thank you so much.
06:09Yeah.
06:10Now in Wicked, your character is a woman of color, happens to be green, and has a magical
06:16power that no one else has.
06:19We can all relate to this in this room, can't we?
06:23Can I hear a source?
06:25Right?
06:27Honestly.
06:29Through many adversities, she discovers how to embrace her uniqueness with the help of
06:35sisterhood and encouragement.
06:37I've had hurdles myself to leap over, like losing my dad and looking to start my career
06:43all while juggling my mom's health.
06:46My source stepped in the gap for me in a huge way during this fragile time, giving me love,
06:51support, and guidance, helping me to push through those adversities.
06:56So how do you harness your own power amid adversity?
07:03I was talking to Tamron Hall today, and she said, you march to the beat of your own drum.
07:10How does that feel sometimes?
07:14And sometimes it's like right early on in my career, I was always slightly odd, slightly
07:19to the left, a little bit different to most people.
07:22And it can be really scary because when no one else is like you, you feel like you might
07:28be the one making the mistake.
07:29But actually, when it feels true, you can't do anything other than that.
07:36And so through adversity, I think I've just had a bit of staying power.
07:42I've had to be a bit brave just to keep going forward.
07:47And my stylist Jason Baldwin, who's like a big brother, says put blinders on, keep your
07:52blinders on, look at your own path, keep moving forward.
07:56Because if you start looking left and right, you might get distracted and you miss a step.
08:00So when it gets tough, when it gets hard, I, for me, I have to really focus on the thing
08:08that is in front of me, on the thing that I have to move towards.
08:11And then I'm lucky enough to have really good people around me who will just get back up,
08:19just who are always there for me when I need them.
08:23You know, I have really good people around me, really good friends who just don't go
08:29anywhere, even when even when I want them to, they won't listen, you know, it's a combination
08:38of a little bit of determination, stubbornness, because I'm a Capricorn.
08:44Caps.
08:45And good people.
08:45Yeah.
08:46I cannot wait for this particular room to experience this film tonight.
08:50Sora Cynthia, what do you hope inspires and sparks our sores?
08:54And what are you most excited for them to experience this film?
08:58Because I'm amongst family, I can say this.
09:02That's us up there.
09:03That's us.
09:04Yeah.
09:05Elphaba is every single one of us in this room.
09:09She faces a lot of adversity.
09:11She faces a lot that she has to struggle to come through.
09:16But the thing that she does is discover that the one thing she needs to do is stay true
09:21to who she is.
09:22And that's how she discovers how powerful she is.
09:26I know that every single one of us in here has had to deal with that.
09:30I know we deal with it almost every single day.
09:33But please trust and believe that if you just stay true to who you are,
09:40you will get to where you want to be.
09:43Even when it's difficult.
09:45Don't let anyone push you away from the path that you're meant to be following.
09:48And there will be many things that get in the way.
09:51I'm sure many things have gotten in the way.
09:55What's for you is for you.
09:57Amen.
09:57And as long as you see that the thing you have inside you is the thing that will get you there,
10:03you'll get there.
10:04That is what Elphaba does.
10:05Yeah.
10:07Sorry, Cynthia.
10:08One last question for you.
10:09If you were to finish the phrase, I defy gravity by, what would you say?
10:15I defy gravity by starring in a giant movie.
10:20Remember playing the green lady who flies.
10:25That's pretty crazy.
10:27But yeah, I think the things that I've been able to do and the fact that I'm here
10:32to be able to celebrate with you with this movie is a really big deal.
10:37The moment I knew I was doing this, the first thing I thought was green and pink.
10:41What?
10:45And everyone at Universal will attest to it.
10:47Because the first thing I said was like, so, okay.
10:52You know, to be able to be able to do that, to bring this to you and like, personally,
10:58be able to say like, I want to do this with them, please.
11:01It has to happen.
11:02There's no way we can do and there's no way we can do this without making sure that the
11:06AKAs are involved because green and pink is our color.
11:09So what we do, it would make no sense if we didn't.
11:12Please don't miss this moment.
11:13And they did.
11:14And I'm just glad that I'm able to, I feel like that's defying gravity, being able to
11:18actually bring your sisters along to this is really cool.
11:21Thank you so much for holding space for us.
11:23Thank you so much.
11:24We appreciate your openness, transparency, and dedication to our illustrious and one
11:30of a kind sisterhood.