During Monday morning’s Golden Globe nominations, Wicked: For Good star Cynthia Erivo was out for blood. While in the middle of rehearsals for the upcoming production of Kip Williams’ Dracula on London’s West End, where Erivo plays all 23 roles, she was informed about her historic nomination.
Alongside her co-star Ariana Grande, Erivo has made history as the first two actors from the same film to be consecutively nominated for their roles as Elphaba and Glinda. However, in addition to that, Erivo also makes Golden Globes history as the first Black woman to be nominated twice in the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category. “It’s amazing, but also let’s make sure that it doesn’t stay that way,” the actor said to Deadline on nominations morning. “Let’s make sure that more Black women are nominated in this category. Being the first is always wonderful, but let’s make sure I’m not the last.”
At the nomination’s ceremony, Wicked: For Good did ride the broom to success with five total nominations, including Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Stephen Schwartz’s “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble” and Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.
Below, Erivo speaks to Deadline about her performance in Wicked: For Good, “No Place Like Home” and making history at the Golden Globes.
DEADLINE: This is the end of the cinematic journey of one of the most defining roles in pop-culture history. You’ve talked in interviews about how this project has brought you incredible friendships and challenged you as a singer and actor. How are you processing this?
CYNTHIA ERIVO: I just take things day by day, and I try not to take any of it for granted. This is all a privilege, and being able to make a piece like this that connects with people this way is something you can never guarantee. I’m acutely aware that this has done something we were all wholly unprepared for. We knew it would be special on the set, but we couldn’t have imagined the response of what came after.
DEADLINE: According to the Hollywood Foreign Press, you’re the first Black woman to be nominated for lead actress twice. What does that responsibility mean to you?
ERIVO: It’s amazing, but also let’s make sure that it doesn’t stay that way. Let’s make sure that more Black women are nominated in this category. Being the first is always wonderful, but let’s make sure I’m not the last. I don’t want to be the last person to have this happen to. I hope there are more of me.
DEADLINE: “No Place Like Home” also got a nomination. Talk a bit about the importance of that song for Elphaba’s character journey. Do you remember when you first received it?
ERIVO: When I first got it, I thought it was beautiful, but I felt like it wasn’t connected as much to Elphaba. And then we did some work on it, and I really wanted to make sure that we made the connection between how she was feeling and how everyone else could feel too. So, there was a through line of understanding that Elphaba understood what it felt like to feel like she didn’t belong in a place, which is what we’ve been telling people this entire time. And so, I felt like it was important for that to still be in this song. And so, when we finally found what it was meant to be, I was really pleased with it because it felt connected and, in a way, heartbreaking.
And I think what has amazed me is how many people are seeing the connection between where we are now and who we are now and this particular song and how it makes people feel and how people feel in the world and how the home is still home even when it doesn’t treat you the way it should. I think there’s something very special about the song. And when we take time to listen to music, that connection is what we want. We want the songs we listen to, yes, sometimes help us escape, but also to remind us to connect to those deeper feelings.
Cynthia Erivo sings “No Place Like Home” in Wicked: For Good
Universal
DEADLINE: Elphaba gets to show a deeper pain and frustration this time around in Wicked: For Good. What is a scene that still resonates or haunts you—in a good way—that highlights the best of that performance?
ERIVO: “For Good” is one of those scenes, but I think it might be “No Good Deed” really. The response to that has shocked even me a little bit. I was always really looking forward to it, but it scared the shit out of me because it was such a big undertaking, I was on my own, and it’s such a big number. So, there was a part of me that was like, “Am I really going to be able to pull this off? Is this going to feel as connected as I want it to be?” Not to mention all the technical things that have to go into it that are really complicated. There’s memory flashbacks, stunt work, and a massive emotional arc within the song, and to top it off, I’m singing in wires. “No Good Deed” feels like a culmination of everything I have learned across the two movies in one space.
That’s definitely a scene, to use your word, that haunts me. I knew that singing “For Good” would work because, even when we weren’t ready for it, we were. You know what I mean? However, I didn’t know how “No Good Deed” would be because there was no feedback; all I had was Jon [M. Chu], but no one was performing with me to gauge the temperature.
Also, performing intimately with Ariana [Grande] and Jonny [Bailey] is something that will stick with me, and it was beautiful to be part of. Because when you have those close connections, you know certain scenes will work. So, I was never worried about scenes with them, but I was definitely worried about “No Good Deed,” so to hear people cheer in the theater once the scene was done was really mind-blowing.
DEADLINE: I simply have to mention that people online are absolutely raving over your composition of that song, but more specifically, on the way you riff, “Maybe that’s the reason why.”
ERIVO: I know. I’m trying to think about how that even came about. I feel like I remember working with Stephen Schwartz, and I was just like, “I think I have an idea for something in this line.” Because I didn’t want to break up the emotional tension of that moment, I wanted it to feel like a fall into a yell, and the only way to do that was to slide up the scale and into the next note and as you mentioned, it pulls and lengthens until you land on the note.
DEADLINE: Metaphorically and probably spiritually, you put people in the hospital with that note.
ERIVO: Oh, my goodness, that’s hilarious. Listen, it was a lot of breathwork. I put myself through it that day.
The 83rd annual Golden Globes ceremony will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET
[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]
