Celebrity
Cynthia Erivo wasn’t always bald. The powerfully talented ‘Wicked’ star once had long locks, but decided to change her style for one particular reason.
Actor Cynthia Erivo’s beauty is undisputed. It comes from within and outside, allowing for a personal and professional transformation from long tresses to a bold bald look throughout a decade in the spotlight. However, the Wicked star has always been uniquely and unabashedly herself. Thus, part of that shift came from years of being on the fringe of the industry’s standard of beauty and feeling like an “odd man out.”
Erivo’s evolution to feeling comfortable in her skin came from understanding that true beauty isn’t reflected in one’s hair. As a result, she once told Self Magazine,” I remember saying to myself, I’d like to walk into a room and have people just see my face. My beauty doesn’t stem from how I do my hair,” Erivo explained of her bold, bald look. “Being powerful is every day finding what the most authentic version of yourself is that day and sticking with it, not allowing other people’s perception of who you are or what sways you.
Cynthia Erivo posed alongside members of the musical parody of X-Factor titled, I Can’t Sing in 2013. Erivo admitted to Self, that she once used her shoulder-length hair as a tool to hide. “I was doing it for such a long time. I remember saying to myself, I’d like to walk into a room and have people just see my face.”
Later in 2013, Cynthia Erivo attended a celebrity gala in London. For that event, her hair was styled in a halo of bouncy curls.
By 2017, Cynthia Erivo had cut her hair close to her scalp, almost bald, and dyed it blonde. “[My hairdresser] would only cut some of it. So I left with a haircut that I didn’t want,” Erivo said to Self. “But I allowed [my hairdresser’s] fears or something she was projecting onto me to affect how I made my decision.” Hence, a week later, she got the haircut she wanted.
By 2018, almost bald Cynthia Erivo had grown out her hair just a bit. Thus, the addition of a platinum blonde color with a peach hairline tone made her a standout. This look was the closest to the look the actor sports today.
Posing at Kensington Palace in London, England at the British Academy Film Awards in 2019, Cynthia Erivo debuted a bright pink hairstyle. Furthermore, the wig was several tones of the blush color and accented with a rhinestone clip at her hairline.
Today, Cynthia’s head is shaved bald. She took the drastic step for the character, saying this was to ensure her hairline and the face paint used to turn Elphaba green would look flawless on camera. Furthermore, to Vanity Fair, Erivo said she looked like, “Green-scalp Cynthia. Like a little bald green lady.”
Cynthia Erivo stars alongside Ariana Grande in Wicked. The film debuts in theaters beginning Nov. 22, 2024.
