A Look Back at Cynthia Erivo'sWickedly Tough Training in Order to Soar and Sing for the Blockbuster Film

Mar. 15, 2025

Cynthia Erivo filming ‘Wicked.'.Photo:Wicked Movie/ Youtube

Wicked Movie/ Youtube

Defying gravity vocallyandphysically is no easy feat. Just askCynthia Erivo, whose role as Elphaba in last year’s smashWickedrequired much more than movie magic to hit the high notes while also filming the difficult sequences that would soar onscreen.

And all that hard work paid off: Erivo and herWickedcostarAriana Grandeare both nominated for Oscars (Erivo for best actress, and Grande for best supporting actress) at the Academy Awards on March 2.

Thoughit remains to be seenwhether the two will perform at the ceremony, if it does happen, no one is better prepared to hit the stage. Before the nominations, and before the movie was even made, Erivo “put myself through a lot,” she has said, in order to be physically — and mentally — prepared to board Elphaba’s broom.

Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked.'.Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

In addition to the“2 to 3 hours” of sleepshe got each night over the course of the shoot, Erivo says she “would get up and work out for two hours before getting in the car” in prep for the scenes that required theTony winner to “fly” while strapped into a harness— singing all the while.

Erivo previously opened up about her middle-of-the-night workouts, sharing that she would either “do a long run or a bike ride, and sing at the same time,” she toldClassic FM’s Zeb Soaneslast year.  “It wasn’t particular songs, but anything that gave me space to be open.”

She did so, she explained, as it “helps to condition the lungs, to breathe slightly differently than if I was standing still and singing.”

She also worked on the internal strength required for such a physically demanding role.

“I learned that an infrared sauna blanket is very helpful with the bruising on the inside,” she told Bell.  “I learned that a therapist is also really helpful with the bruising on the inside.”

At a recentVarietyFYC screening, Erivo said that both she and Grande were willing to commit to such extreme requirements because of how much they cared about their roles.

Director Jon M. Chu with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on set.Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

“The training we both had to do on our voices in order to make those sounds took time, for both voice and body,” Erivo said of her and Grande, who plays Glinda. “It isn’t easy to sing in a harness up in the air. But these women deserve our all. So we threw ourselves into it—whether it was a 2 a.m. wake-up call, a 5 a.m. makeup call, or a two-hour workout.”

During the SAG Q&A Erivo shared she was still “working it out” with herself about whether or not pushing herself to the extent she did is “healthy,” though clarified the choices were “self-inflicted.”

“I need to know that my body and my brain have worked," she said, “so that when I get to the point where I’m doing it all, it feels like water, feels natural.”

source: people.com