Cynthia Erivo celebrates her birthday January 8, which also marks the anniversary of the recent Broadway revival of The Color Purple’s final performance at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The performer earned a Tony Award for her breakout performance as Celie, going on to win a Grammy for the cast recording and an Emmy for her performance on The Today Show.
With the Tony, Emmy, and Grammy, Erivo is just an Oscar away from reaching the elusive EGOT status. While awards buzz may be premature, here are four films Erivo has lined up that could make the stage favorite a screen star.
Widows
Weeks shy of her final performance in The Color Purple, Erivo was announced for her first major film project: Widows, directed by Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave). The thriller, penned by Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn and based on a 1980s British series, follows four widows who set out to complete the heist their husbands died attempting. The film, set to release November 16, also stars Tony and Oscar winner Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Broadway alum and Othello-bound André Holland, and Tony nominee Carrie Coon.Harriet
Erivo and the company of The Color Purple took their final bows a year ago to the day, and exactly one month after concluding her run as Celie, Erivo landed a a role in another story about black resilience in America: Harriet Tubman. Gregory Allen Howard will pen the screenplay to the biopic, with Seith Mann at the helm. While additional details—including a timeline—have yet to be announced, Erivo did tease that she could potentially lend her vocals to the film as well, as the celebrated abolotionist Underground Railroad used certain spirituals as strategic forms of communication.Heads up, One of the ways Harriet communicated was through song. ❤ #HARRIET
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) February 9, 2017
