‘Wicked’: Cynthia Erivo Reveals the Powerful Reason She Shaved Her Head to Play Elphaba
When Cynthia Erivo signed on to play Elphaba in the movie Wicked, she wholeheartedly committed to the character. She shaved her head to play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and there was a powerful reason behind her decision.
Cynthia Erivo sacrificed her hair so the character would look ‘flawless’
On Broadway, the character of Elphaba evolves from a misunderstood schoolgirl to a powerful wizard. As her role changes, so do her costumes and wigs.
The same modifications were made for Cynthia Erivo’s movie role. However, instead of using a hairnet as the Broadway actors do, Erivo went one step further; in a powerful move, she shaved her head.
This was to ensure that her hairline and the face paint used to turn Elphaba green would look flawless on camera. To Vanity Fair, Erivo said she looked like, “Green-scalp Cynthia. Like a little bald green lady.”
The actor continued that she didn’t mind it. “I would love to do that again,” she says.
Erivo sat for anywhere from three to four hours to achieve Elphaba’s green-toned skin. She explained, “Two hours and 45 minutes to three hours if it was just head, neck, hands. If it was the whole body, that was, like, four hours.”
She added that finding the perfect shade of green to coordinate with her skin was also a challenge. Erivo explained, “Some greens really didn’t work. We had alien-esque ones that were just too far.”
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande took care of each other during demanding ‘Wicked’ scenes
The characters of Elphaba and Glinda are polar opposites. They didn’t like each other, and their resentment toward one another grew as they were made roommates at Shiz University.
However, in the other, they saw attributes they lacked. Their friendship grew, despite their differences.
The characters are so fundamentally different that both Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning singer Ariana Grande worked hard to create a bond between them that would last through the more difficult scenes of the film. Grande told Vanity Fair of the experience, “We communicated like the f****** champions of communication of the world,” Grande says. “I’m so grateful for it because we kind of looked at this and we said, ‘Oh, that’s not an option. That’s not going to happen to us.’ ”
Erivo added, “We needed a real connection, and we needed to lead this with love. Even in the moments that are supposed to be fraught with tension within the piece.”
This connection comes in handy during one scene fraught with tension, when Glinda gifts Elphaba a hideous black hat. She subsequently becomes the laughingstock of the university when she wears it to an event.
“It’s just not a fun thing—if you are doing it as truthfully as possible—to have to do it over and over again,” she says. “By the time we had gotten to the last time, I had a big old breakdown,” and Grande took care of Erivo, giving her the space she needed to move through the scene.
Why is ‘Wicked’ in two parts?
In a statement for the quarterly newsletter The Schwartz Scene, songwriter Stephen Schwartz explained the reasons why Wicked will be released in two parts. Those familiar with the Broadway play will know exactly when the break comes. But will the climactic scene be anti-climactic as viewers will then have to wait a year for the follow-up?
Schwartz explained, “The truth is we tried for some time to make it one movie, even if it had to be one very long movie. But we kept running into two problems. The first is that even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate.”
“Secondly, we found it very difficult to get past ‘Defying Gravity’ without a break. That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene follows it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic,” he continued.
Schwarts concluded, “So, for these two reasons, plus the excitement of doing something that’s never been done before with a musical, we have decided to do two movies. Of course, when it’s all done if it doesn’t work that way, we’ll have to figure something out. But we strongly believe that this is what’s best for our story, our show, and our fans.”
Wicked premieres November 22, 2024. The sequel, Wicked Part Two, is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2025.
