Cynthia Erivo insisted that Elphaba have micro braids in ‘Wicked’

Cynthia Erivo talks about the special nuances she brought to her character Bad.

In a new interview with VarietyErivo, 37, describes how Elphaba, who she portrays in the film, started wearing braids instead of the signature long, dark waves the character wore in the musical.

“I asked if we could re-imagine that hair as micro braids, because I knew you could still have the movement, and you could still have the length, but there was a texture that was a little different than what you normally see on would see the stage. the Grammy winner said.

“It was a direct connection between me as a black woman and Elphaba as a green lady,” Erivo continued.

Elphaba’s micro braids were just one of the ways the singer-actress ensured her character was “connected to the person underneath, me.” Another was Elphaba’s long nails, which mirrored Erivo’s.

“I was doing research for this character and I noticed that the original Wicked Witch had nails,” The color purple actress said in a video shared exclusively with PEOPLE last month.

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“I wanted progress. How she grows as a witch and as a woman. Some people wear makeup, I always get my nails done. It’s a new way to express myself,” she continued.

According to VarietyElphaba’s nails grow darker and longer as her powers grow, something that makeup and hair designer Frances Hannon told the outlet “came from Cynthia.”

The Harriet star is only the second black woman to portray the film’s Wicked Witch of the West Wizard of Oz universe, following Alexia Khadime who played the role in the West End production of Bad from 2008-2010 and later in 2023.

Erivo told me Variety in an article published on November 26, that she hopes her portrayal of Elphaba is “a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all the black women who have walked into rooms and felt that they have not been welcomed. For anyone who walks into a room and feels like he or she is not welcome.”

“I’m very happy to be the conduit through which this character was brought to the world,” she said at the time.