Cynthia Erivo has opened up about her experience of classism at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, stating that the school “penalised” her for her personal background.
Erivo, 38, has enjoyed huge success with the record-breaking musical film Wicked, in which she stars as the lead Elphaba Thropp alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good.
The star was appointed vice president of the prestigious institution last year. She graduated in 2010, after transferring from the University of East London a year into a music psychology degree.
“Not just racist, also classist,” Erivo said of her experience at the school in an interview with The Guardian.
After winning an audition to be a backing-singer for Westlife, Erivo explained that she had been offered £10,000 as a fee, which would have “paid off everything”. In order to take the job, however, she would have to miss the first two weeks of her course, which her school did not permit.
“The people running the place don’t necessarily understand people who aren’t given everything,” she said. “They don’t understand what that experience looks like.
“There was another student in a play, missing two weeks, and that was fine; it was just weird looking down on a backing-vocals gig.”
Erivo instead worked for shirtmaker Thomas Pink throughout her time on the course, leaving her feeling depleted.
“I genuinely had to work much harder than other students, and I got penalised for it,” she said. “I’d come in exhausted, and they’d say: ‘Well, she’s not dedicated. She’s not concentrating.’ It took me a long time to make people understand that I wasn’t lazy – I was just tired.”
Erivo was therefore offered small parts in school productions, which she felt reduced her chances of picking up an agent.
“First, it was because they thought I wasn’t concentrating. It was like a punishment,” she said. “The second time, I can’t even remember the excuse. The third year, the excuse was, they thought I was ‘efficient’ and other people needed more help.”
Determined, Erivo took matters into her own hands, putting on her own cabaret and picking up an agent in the process.
“I’ve never really talked about this before,” she shared. “I’ve never really talked about how tough my journey has been. I think I’m just so grateful, and you take the good with the bad.
“Learning what I needed to learn at Rada meant that I could learn what I needed to learn in theatre, and learning what I learned in theatre meant I knew what to do on Broadway, and that’s set me up for TV and film.”
The school has prevously admitted that it is “institutionally racist”, with Rada chief Marcus Ryder saying that the TV industry’s lack of representation had a part to play in the outbreak of the Southport riots. A 2024 report warned that working-class representation in the creative industries is at a 10-year low.
The Independent has contacted Rada for comment.
