Cynthia Erivo Reveals Ariana Grande’s Worried Messages Over Intense Schedule

Cynthia Erivo has shared that her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande has expressed significant concern over Erivo’s current workload and lack of rest. During an appearance on This Morning, the British actress and singer revealed that Grande has been sending her very, very worried text messages.

The concern stems from Erivo’s attempt to balance a demanding professional schedule with rigorous personal physical training. Erivo is currently starring in a one-woman production of Dracula in the West End, a role that requires her to perform 28 different characters.

The Demands of Dracula and Marathon Training

The production of Dracula is an intensive undertaking, with a script spanning approximately 20,000 words. Erivo explained that memorizing and performing such a vast amount of material requires a specific mental approach, noting that she learns the text in chunks and associates the lines with the specific motivations and actions of the characters.

Parallel to her theatrical commitments, Erivo is training for the London Marathon. She has integrated her rehearsal process into her daily routine while pursuing a goal of completing the race in under three hours and 30 minutes.

Support from the Wicked Cast

Erivo described a supportive, family-like atmosphere among her colleagues from the film Wicked. In addition to the frequent check-ins from Grande, Erivo noted that co-star Jonathan Bailey has been consistently texting to ensure she is doing well.

Other cast members have also shown their support. Erivo mentioned that Jeff Goldblum sent her a beautiful love letter and that both Goldblum and Bailey have visited her during her current production.

Ari is very, very worried that I’m not resting enough, so she’s consistently texting. Jeff sent the most beautiful love letter, and he does. I, I love Jeff very, very much, and Jonathan, that everyone’s so lovely, it feels like we have a little bit of a family.

Cynthia Erivo on This Morning

The actress compared her method of committing the extensive script to memory to the way a dancer learns a routine, emphasizing the necessity of understanding the why behind each character’s dialogue to maintain the performance’s integrity while managing her external athletic goals.