Cynthia Erivo, legendary actress who always used her platform to speak up about social matters, recently talked about how “proud” she felt while playing a black woman role in blockbuster Wicked.

The 38-year-old actress wore green skin to play Elphaba in ‘Wicked,’ but it was her own background and experiences of feeling like an outsider that really shaped her performance.

Cynthia shared with Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “Those braids are on purpose; I asked for the braids. The nails are on purpose, I asked for the nails.”

“The green stands for every person who feels othered, who feels different, who doesn’t feel as though they’re connected or ends up feeling as though they’re on the outside,” she added.

“They don’t feel as though they are welcomed.”

The actress went on saying, “But there’s also that other later of, ‘Who am I underneath it?’, if they know that as black women, we walk into spaces and aren’t necessarily accepted or welcomed and aren’t necessarily the main character and are often the other.

“And the pride that I feel about being a black woman is in there as well,” the Drift actress concluded.

Cynthia Erivo embraced the “beautiful challenge” of making Elphaba feel more real and relatable in the 2024 film.