Wicked Gives Cynthia Erivo A Chance To Earn A Coveted Achievement That Only 21 People Have

By Dani Kessel Odom

Published Nov 30, 2024

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After two-part Wicked movie adaptation has quickly become a worldwide sensation, garnering praise from critics and audiences alike. The movie boasts beautiful visuals, extraordinary renditions of the beloved songs, and a compelling story.

However, one of the best parts of the film is Wicked’s phenomenal cast, who give fantastic performances that could make them contenders in the 2025 awards season. The actor who fares best is Cynthia Erivo, the Broadway icon who takes on the role of Elphaba. Erivo transformed the already lovable character by showing new facets of Elphaba's background and personality. With such a strong performance, the actor could make history by becoming the 22nd person ever to take on a coveted and difficult-to-accomplish achievement.

Cynthia Erivo Is Only An Oscar Win Away From Achieving An EGOT

Erivo Won An Emmy, Grammy, And Tony For Her Role As Celie In The Color Purple

The EGOT is one of the most prestigious honors as it means an individual has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. The sweep is especially difficult to achieve for actors, with most EGOT winners being composers. However, Cynthia Erivo has achieved three-fourths of the criteria, winning the following awards:

With those three awards under her belt, Cynthia Erivo is only one Oscar away from ing the ranks of EGOT winners. Thus far, only 21 people have achieved this goal through competitive means, and 6 achieved EGOT status through honorary and special awards. Wicked could be the key to her earning the coveted title after two previous Oscar nominations didn’t pan out.

Will Cynthia Erivo Actually Win An Oscar For Wicked?

Cynthia Erivo Is A Potential Contender For Best Actress

Despite her hard work and incredible performance, Cynthia Erivo’s chances of winning an Oscar for Wicked are slim. Since she isn’t an executive producer of the movie, Erivo couldn’t get an Oscar if the film won Best Picture – a shame since most sources predict Wicked as the winner in that category. Erivo can’t be nominated for any songs this time around. Ultimately, to win an Oscar for Wicked, Cynthia Erivo would have to take the Best Actress category, which is a tough competition.

Elphaba and Galinda from Wicked are in front of a pink magical forest

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The best way to determine her chances of achieving an EGOT is to look at the Oscar predictions. Unfortunately, Screen Rant’s Best Actress Oscar predictions don’t list Cynthia Erivo as one of the five actresses who will be nominated for the category, let alone win the award. The Hollywood Reporter’s Feinberg Forecast agrees, listing Cynthia Erivo in 10th place on the Best Actress list and categorizing her as a “major threat” instead of a “frontrunner.”

However, two major sites have a more optimistic outlook on the matter. Variety predicts her nomination but thinks she’ll lose to Mikey Madison in Anora. The site that shows her having the highest probability of winning is Collider, which ranks her third most likely to win Best Actress. With experts in the field behind each of these predictions, they are pretty reliable. However, if there’s enough love for her Wicked performance, Cynthia Erivo could swoop in and win the Oscar, defying all odds.