Cynthia Erivo on conquering roles from Elphaba to Dracula
The Treatment
KCRW
4.6 • 656 Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Elvis speaks with Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning actress Cynthia Erivo. She recently reprised her role as Elphaba in 'Wicked: For Good,' for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Erivo can now be seen on stage in London in the one-woman adaptation of 'Dracula.' She talks about playing characters with duality, how Elphaba grows in 'For Good' and the exciting challenge of playing 23 characters in 'Dracula.'
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This episode originally aired January 9, 2026.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, it's The Treatment. |
| 0:13.4 | Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell. My guest is an Emmy winner, a Tony winner, a Grammy |
| 0:20.1 | winner, an Oscar nominee. Nominate for the Golden Globe |
| 0:23.4 | for two consecutive years for the same role, the first time that's happened, even though her |
| 0:29.8 | new movie is called Wicked for Good. Apparently, for the first time, she feels wicked in it. My |
| 0:34.4 | guest is our old friend Cynthia Arrivo. First of all, congratulations and happy |
| 0:38.3 | New Year to you. Thank you so much. Happy New Year to you. You're so lovely. You so often play |
| 0:43.4 | characters who project one way to the public, be it Aretha Franklin or Harriet Tubman or Elpahe |
| 0:50.7 | and who is somebody completely different. And I wonder what it is that brings that back to you so often. |
| 0:57.9 | I think I like the duality of that or the multiplicity of that, |
| 1:01.8 | that no one really is ever just one thing. |
| 1:05.0 | And I think that there is something about people who are perceived one way by others, |
| 1:11.8 | not really by their own fault and sometimes because of what they want to show and what they want to share. |
| 1:18.5 | And are something totally different and feel comfortable sharing other parts of themselves with other people. |
| 1:25.1 | I think it makes for complex people, complex characters, and means that I get to dig in, I guess, you know? |
| 1:33.3 | So many of these women are people who present in an enormous way as these public persona. I mean, a big intimidating way, in fact. |
| 1:41.3 | I don't want to say vulnerability, but there is a sign of them that is considered |
| 1:46.1 | and very thoughtful. |
| 1:48.5 | They're often thought of as being these characters |
| 1:50.1 | who just go through life in a very sort of brazen and bold way. |
| 1:54.9 | Yeah. |
| 1:55.7 | I love that you use the word vulnerability, |
... |
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