2020 might be the year that the very short list of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT) award might get a little bit longer.
Cynthia Erivo might be joining the ranks which include Whoopi Goldberg, Audrey Hepburn, John Legend and Andrew Lloyd Webber since has been nominated twice at the 92nd Academy Awards, and winning an Oscar would complete her EGOT award collection. Not only that, but she would break the record for the shortest year span elapsed between winning all four, as well as being the youngest ever recipient of all four awards.
In 2016, Erivo won a Tony award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Celie in The Color Purple. She went on to win the Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album the following year, as well as an Emmy for Outstanding Musical Performance on a Daytime Show for the cast’s appearance on NBC’s Today.
Erivo smashed onto the big screen in 2018 with two scene-stealing performances as super-fit babysitter Belle in Steve McQueen’s Widows and singer-with-a-secret Darlene Sweet in Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale. This year’s Harriet from director Kasi Lemmons immortalises the life of Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and fought tirelessly to free others. Her grounded performance has been met with critical acclaim, earning her nominations at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards and many more alongside the Academy Award nomination for Actress in a Leading Role announced earlier today.
Alongside her role as Harriet, she has also been nominated for Best Original Song for the track “Stand Up,” which she wrote and performed for the film. In this category she is up against songs from Toy Story 4, Rocketman, Breakthrough and Frozen II, while in the acting category she is up against Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story, Saoirse Ronan in Little Women, Charlize Theron in Bombshell and Renée Zellweger in Judy.
Earlier this month, the BAFTA nominations announcement sparked controversy with all 20 acting nominees being white, while the Golden Globes faced criticism for not nominating female-directed films. Cynthia Erivo is the only non-white acting nominee at the 92nd Academy Awards, while Waad Al-kateab’s For Sama received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women for and Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Find out if Erivo will become the youngest ever EGOT winner at the Academy Awards on 9 February.