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Cynthia Erivo reflects on 'wonderful' success of Wicked soundtrack

Cynthia Erivo is thrilled by the "wonderful" success of the Wicked soundtrack.

The actress and singer, who played Elphaba in the film adaptation of the musical, revealed that she was surprised by the positive reception to the soundtrack.

During a video interview with Billboard, Cynthia was informed that the soundtrack had climbed to number two on the Billboard 200 chart, while her performance of Defying Gravity had reached number 44 on the Hot 100 chart.

"It's insane," she replied. "And it's insane while it's happening."

Cynthia continued, "When we started getting stats for the soundtrack, I think we were all like, 'Huh?', because there's one thing to have it like, if it's in the musical, but to be part of the Billboard 100 - 'Oh, so it just is in the ether."

She went on to point out how fans have been engaging with the songs beyond the film itself.

"People are just listening to it on their way to work at this point," she said. "People are just enjoying it as a piece of music, which is so wonderful that music can permeate wherever it goes. As long as it connects, then it's good."

Cynthia earned a nomination for Best Actress at the 2025 Academy Awards - her second in the category following her acclaimed role in 2019's Harriet.

Had she won, she would have achieved EGOT status, having already received a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Tony Award.

When asked about narrowly missing out, she said, "You know, some days I'm like, this just is sort of like looming over my head. But other days I'm sort of like, how lovely that it is. Because to be in this position, at this point in my career, is really one, a privilege, but two, a massive surprise."

Photo: Cover Media
Source: Cover Media
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