Cynthia Erivo on Aretha Franklin and Portraying Complex Black Women Onscreen (Exclusive)
and earning acclaim onscreen with films like and, Cynthia Erivo takes on her biggest role yet: Aretha Franklin. The English actress, who is one Oscar shy of an EGOT, portrays the musical icon in season 3 of , National Geographic’s Emmy-winning anthology series, which depicts the fascinating stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators. “She was the queen in every sense of the word,” Erivo says, adding that portraying her idol is “definitely a big undertaking, but I’ve had a really good time.” Starting in the late 1960s, recounts Franklin’s efforts to record her first album with Atlantic Records and then covers major moments in her career and personal life in the two decades that followed.