SHINING STAR

Playing one of her musical inspirations has been a dream come true, but now the Oscar nominee is telling her own story with a debut album

When London-born actress and singer Cynthia Erivo was offered the chance to portray queen of soul Aretha Franklin, she was hit by a stream of emotions. “I was surprised, honoured, gobsmacked, blown away, overwhelmed – all of those things,” she says, chatting exclusively to hello! from her home in Los Angeles.

“I was given the opportunity to tell a story of a hero of mine, of someone who inspires the way I sing, the way I hear music. It was one of the most incredible and complicated journeys I’ve ever taken with a character.”

Playing the singer in Genius: Aretha gave Cynthia a chance to showcase her vocals as well as her acting skills.

“To learn the nuances Aretha put in her music, the choices she made when she would sing, was like taking a masterclass, but being paid to do so,” she says with delight.

Since being showcased as a rising star to watch by hello! in 2014, when she was a 26-yearold Rada graduate and theatre star, Cynthia has not stopped. She has taken Broadway and Hollywood by storm, won a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy, and been Oscar nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song – for Stand Up, from Harriet, which she cowrote and performed at last year’s ceremony.

“It’s kind of crazy,” she says. “Being nominated for those two Oscars was really a dream come true.

“One of my dreams before I was nominated was simply to sing on the Oscars stage. That’s all I wanted. To be able to do that was the dream being realised tenfold.”

Cynthia’s love of music began when she was five, but her

‘One of my dreams before I was nominated was simply to sing on the Oscars stage… That’s all I wanted’