Cynthia Erivo, the star of Disney’s Wicked and recent Oscar nominee for Best Actress, has added yet another controversy to her list after accusing her instructors at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) of dismissing her as “lazy.”
The 38-year-old actress said in an interview with The Guardian that her tutors would often misjudge her attitude in class as not being dedicated when, according to her, she was just tired from working.
“Lucky us, here we go again, it seems the ‘perpetual victim’ role is a popular and an enduring one,” one reader wrote, unamused by Erivo’s account of her drama school days.
A segment of netizens have seemingly grown tired of hearing about the actress, whose public appearances as part of the movie’s promotional tour have tarnished her image, a phenomenon that contrasts Wicked’s commercial and critical success.
Netizens reacted with annoyance at Cynthia Erivo’s interview in which she accused her drama school teachers of dismissing her as “lazy”
Following her nomination at the 2025 edition of the Oscars for Best Actress, the actress behind Wicked’s Elphaba, sat down for an interview and talked about the hardships she endured on her way to success.
Erivo graduated from the RADA in 2010, and her career has allowed her to climb up the ranks of the institution to become its current vice president.
During the interview, she recounted how she struggled with the institution’s tuition fees in her first year and was forced to work as a shirtmaker. “I genuinely had to work much harder than other students, and I got penalised for it,” she stated.
According to Erivo, her tutors mistook her lack of energy for a lack of interest and dedication and, in response, they gave her only minor roles in productions by way of punishment.
“It took me a long time to make people understand that I wasn’t lazy – I was just tired,” she recounted.
While Wicked has garnered the actress many fans, others have been less enthusiastic about her growing media presence
“Doesn’t she realize how utterly absurd this perpetual-victim schtick sounds coming from people that have reached the pinnacle of their craft and are making heaps of money?” one user asked, echoing similar reactions from other viewers who were unmoved by Erivo’s anecdote.
The backlash comes after months of scrutiny by audiences who have been put off by Erivo’s attitude and words during Wicked’s promotional tour.
For instance, in November 2024, the actress expressed relief that Ariana Grande, her co-star, got the role of Glinda, seemingly dismissing the other actresses who applied for the role. In a way, audiences felt it was “uncalled for.”
“Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with,” the actress said.
Just a month prior, in October 2024, Erivo got into an argument with fans over a fan-made edit of her and co-star Ariana Grande replicating a classic Broadway play poster of Wicked.
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen,” the actress said, eventually backpedaling on her reaction.
Erivo and Grande’s physical appearances have also been heavily scrutinized, with the two being accused of looking “dangerously thin” and behaving strangely in interviews.
“God, those two have been simply insufferable on that Wicked press tour,” one reader stated.
“She’s a perfect example of a narcissist,” one reader wrote, as others joined in to share their thoughts on the actress
