Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo gets new chance to become youngest EGOT winner

Forget defying gravity, Cynthia Erivo is on the verge of breaking records. 

Thanks to her role as Elphaba, the Wicked star has a second chance at making history. Thursday morning saw Erivo, 38, earn her third-ever Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress at the 97th Academy Awards. This puts her back in the running to become the youngest EGOT winner ever, having already won a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 2016, a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album in 2017, and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program in 2017. 

Like Wicked, the three statuettes that she’s already snagged also had their roots in a Broadway musical: the 2015 revival of The Color Purple.

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As noted, this isn’t Erivo’s first crack at this particular accolade. Back in 2020, she had two chances to snag the title at just 32 years old, when she received double Oscar nominations for her role in Harriet, the acclaimed Harriet Tubman biopic. The actress was up for Best Actress and Best Original Song for the film’s theme “Stand Up,” but she lost to Renée Zellweger and songwriting duo Elton John and Bernie Taupin, respectively.

This time, Erivo faces stiff competition in the form of Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here).

Moore and Torres have been favorites for the award since winning Golden Globes earlier this month, while Madison has picked up several smaller accolades in the lead-up to awards season. But Erivo has certainly been in the conversation, earning nods at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, NAACP Iage Awards, and Satellite Awards.

Should Erivo finally earn the Oscar, she would unseat the current youngest EGOT winners: Robert Lopez (Frozen, The Book of Mormon), John Legend, and duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land).

But if it doesn’t work out, Ervio still has a chance to tie for youngest EGOT winner if Wicked: For Good dazzles Academy voters later this year.