Cynthia Erivo is on the interview circuit promoting her latest project, “Genius: Aretha”, in which she plays legendary Aretha Franklin the the third season of National Geographic’s “Genius” series.
In an interview with Variety‘s “Just for Variety” podcast, the Oscar-nominated actress and singer also opens up about an upcoming role on the horizon: playing the Blue Fairy in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “Pinocchio” for Disney+.
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Interviewer Marc Malkin tells Erivo he can see her put an “avant-garde” spin on the classic cartoon creation.
“You might be right, you know. They really have given me carte blanche. They have a creative idea which is really, really beautiful. I don’t want to spoil it but it’s really lovely,” Erivo teases.
“But I have my hair and makeup team going over it. Terrell [Mullin], my makeup artist, is making eyelashes currently. I know that already it’s a different aesthetic, because it’s me — this bald-headed Black girl,” she adds.
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“I’m really excited about it,” says Erivo. “We don’t have very many Black fairies. I’m very proud to be joining the ranks with Yara Shahidi [playing Tinker Bell in “Peter Pan”] and I’m very proud we’re getting to join the ranks of Disney with Halle Bailey, who’s playing the Little Mermaid. It’s kind of awesome.”
