‘Genius: Aretha’ may be Cynthia Erivo’s greatest role yet
The glow that comes to Cynthia Erivo’s face as she discusses “Genius: Aretha” is evidence of how she feels about stepping into the shoes — and voice — of music legend Aretha Franklin.
Erivo is thrilled about the third season of National Geographic’s biographical anthology series, which debuted this week and details Franklin’s groundbreaking career and often stormy life offstage. But Erivo’s excitement is accompanied by something else: a sizable dose of anxiety.
Sitting in the backyard of her Los Angeles home, a trace of unease creeps into her voice as she speculates how audiences will respond to her portrayal of the Queen of Soul, who died in August 2018 at 76.
The actress, who won raves for her starring roles in the stage musical “The Color Purple” and the Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet,” says she was unprepared for, and shaken up by, the rapturous accolades that followed those triumphs.
“When I did ‘The Color Purple,’ it was one of those moments when I could feel my life shifting and changing,” Erivo says in her melodic British accent.
The eight- part miniseries, which premiered Sunday and airs at 9 and 10 p.m. for four consecutive nights, depicts Franklin’s creative growth starting as a young
girl performing on the gospel circuit with her father, Baptist minister C.L. Franklin, and follows her through the 1970s and ’80s as she transforms into a force of nature, recording numerous hits such as “Respect,” “Rock Steady” and “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” as well as protest songs and the landmark gospel album “Amazing Grace.”
Franklin’s tumultuous personal life, which included abusive relationships and a rivalry with her sisters, is chronicled along with her prominence as a civil rights activist and her battles with white executives for control of her career, including the chance to produce her own music. The parallels between her struggles and hot-button tensions around race and racism in American culture gives “Genius: Aretha” added topicality.
The series also has an Alist pedigree: Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright SuzanLori Parks (“Topdog/Underdog”) serves as showrunner and lead writer and is also an executive producer alongside Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Record producer Clive Davis and Atlantic
Records Chief Executive Craig Kallman, both major figures who worked with Franklin, are executive producers as well. And the cast includes Emmy winners Courtney B. Vance (“Lovecraft Country”) and David Cross (“Arrested Development”).
But at center stage is Erivo, whose portrayal of the abused but eventually victorious heroine Celie in “The Color Purple” in 2016 propelled her into the elite ranks of working actresses, bouncing among high-profile stage, film and TV projects. In addition to winning a Tony Award for lead actress in a musical, Erivo scored a Grammy (for musical theater album) and an Emmy (for musical performance in a daytime program). Her fierce portrait as Tubman scored her an Oscar nomination for lead actress, and she co-wrote that film’s Oscarnominated song, “Stand Up.”
Other highlights include featured roles in the film dramas “Widows,” “Bad Times at the El Royale” and HBO’s horror miniseries “The Outsider,” winning praise for her role as the quietly eccentric private investigator Holly Gibney.
That’s just for starters.
Off-screen, she finished her first book, “Remember to Dream, Ebere,” a children’s book centered around a mother and daughter and the dreams they build together. Also on the horizon is her first album, a collection of songs that she wrote or co- wrote. And she’s launched a production company, Edith’s Daughter, with a special mission: “I want to be able to tell stories of Black women in spaces where we’re not really seen.”
That issue is key with the actress, who says it was “bittersweet” to be the only Black acting nominee in 2020 for “Harriet.”
Erivo’s busy slate this year includes a starring role alongside Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie and Merritt Wever in Apple’s “Roar,” an anthology series about what it means to be a woman. And she’s signed on to play the Blue Fairy in Disney’s liveaction remake of “Pinocchio.”
Hers is the first of two Franklin-related projects arriving in 2021. Her “The Color Purple” costar Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”) will play Franklin in the theatrical film “Respect,” which is scheduled to be released later this year.