British actress and singer Cynthia Erivo was BOTD in 1987. Born in London to Nigerian parents, she planned to become a music psychologist, before pursuing an acting career, studying the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 2016 she worked in regional theatre, and appeared in TV comedy series Chewing Gum, opposite her friend (and the show’s writer) Michaela Coel. Her big break came in 2013, when she starred as Miss Celie in an off-West End production of the musical The Color Purple. She reprised the role in the production’s 2015 Broadway transfer, dazzling audiences with her powerful soprano. The role won Erivo a Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical, an Emmy for a live performance on The Tonight Show and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre album. In 2019, Erivo played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the 2019 biopic Harriet, earning dual Oscar nominations for acting and for co-writing a song for the film. She gave a stunning performance as the young Aretha Franklin in the 2021 season of the TV series Genius, performing Franklin’s songs with uncanny accuracy. In 2024, she was launched to international fame as Elphaba, the misunderstood green-skinned witch in the first of two films based on the musical Wicked! Erivo spent much of the year in an extensive press tour with her co-star Ariana Grande, identifying openly as bisexual and queer and acknowledging the queer resonances of Wicked!, endearing her to the show’s extensive LGBTQ fanbase. In 2024, she was honoured by the American Human Rights Campaign for expanding the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community. Erivo lives in Los Angeles, and is in a relationship with actress-producer Lena Waithe.