Cynthia Erivo is a Tony®, Emmy® and Grammy Award-winning actress as well as a SAG, double Golden Globe®, and double Academy Award®-nominee. Erivo burst onto West End and Broadway stages in “The Color Purple” and has since taken the big screen by storm. This year Erivo has been honored with the “Breakthrough Performance” award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, received a “Virtuoso” award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and received the “Rising Star” award from the American Black Film Festival.

Erivo recently starred in Kasi Lemmons’ “Harriet,” where she brought the legacy of Harriet Tubman to the big screen. She told the story of how Tubman helped free hundreds of slaves from the South after escaping slavery herself in 1849. Focus Features premiered the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and released the film on November 1, 2019. In addition to leading the cast, Erivo lent her voice to the movie’s title song, “Stand Up,” for which she also co-wrote. “Stand Up” won “Best Original Song” at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Both Cynthia and “Stand Up” were nominated for two Academy Awards as well as two Golden Globe Awards in the categories of “Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” and “Best Original Song” respectively. The film also garnered ten NAACP nominations as well as AAFCA and Society of Composers & Lyricists Award wins.

Erivo can soon be seen as Aretha Franklin in the next installment of National Geographic’s Emmy- winning global anthology series “Genius: Aretha.” This upcoming season will be the first-ever, definitive and only authorized scripted limited series on the life of the universally acclaimed Queen of Soul. It will premiere on National Geographic channels which are shown in 172 countries and 43 languages.

Erivo currently stars on the HBO series “The Outsider,” which premiered on January 12, 2020. The series is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Erivo stars alongside Ben Mendelsohn in the series, which follows an unorthodox investigator and a seasoned cop investigating a gruesome murder of a local boy.

In August, Erivo launched her production company, Edith’s Daughter, and announced her first-look deal with MRC Television & Civic Center Media. Edith’s Daughter will focus on projects that express the beauty in the stories and people who are often overlooked and underrepresented. Erivo named former BRON Studios Director of Development, Solome Williams, as Vice President of the company.

Additionally, Erivo has many upcoming projects. She will star alongside Daisy Ridley and David Oyelowo in Doug Liman’s highly anticipated sci-fi thriller, “Chaos Walking” and will join Orlando Bloom, Freida Pinto, and Leslie Odom Jr as the star of John Ridley’s “Needle in a Timestack.” She will executive produce and start in Warner Brothers’ musical take on the American folk tale of “Rip Van Winkle.” Erivo is also set to produce and star in the film adaptation of the QCode scripted thriller podcast, “Carrier.” Erivo will lead the cast as a long-haul truck driver who, during her all-night trip across rural America, discovers she’s transporting a trailer with disturbing, mysterious contents. Erivo both voiced and produced the podcast which premiered on July 1, 2019.

It was recently announced that Erivo will star in Universal’s “Talent Show”, directed by Gandja Monteiro and written by Lena Waithe. “Talent Show” is the story of a failed songwriter (to be played by Erivo) who returns home to Chicago to lead a group of at-risk youth in their annual talent show.

Continuing to push the boundaries of her versatile career, Erivo stars in John Cameron Mitchell’s music- driven podcast anthology, “Anthem: Homunculus,” which combines music, drama and theater to create a dense and masterful musical journey, in the style of a radio play, produced by Topic.

In 2018, Erivo made her film debut in Drew Goddard’s “Bad Times at the El Royale,” which is set in the 1960s in a dilapidated hotel in the Lake Tahoe region of California. 20th Century Fox released the film on October 12, which also stars Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, and Jon Hamm, among others. Erivo also starred as ‘Belle’ in Steve McQueen’s drama, “Widows,” opposite Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Debicki. Set in contemporary Chicago, amidst a time of turmoil, the film follows four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities, who take fate into their own hands, and conspire to forge a future on their own terms. 20th Century Fox released the film on November 16 following a successful premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Erivo rounded out the year with a 2019 BAFTA EE Rising Star Award nomination for her exceptional work in film and on stage.

Erivo made her Broadway debut reprising her starring role as ‘Celie’ in the critically acclaimed revival of “The Color Purple.” She first played the role in 2013 at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, earning rave reviews and an Evening Standard Theatre Award® nomination for Best Musical Performance and a WhatsOnStage Award® nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Her performance on Broadway earned her several awards, including the Tony Award® for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, a Grammy award® as a principal soloist on original cast recording of “The Color Purple” (Best Musical Theater Album), a Daytime Emmy Award® for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the Drama Desk Award®, Theatre World®, and Outer Critics Circle Awards®.

In spring 2015, Erivo appeared as ‘Puck’ in the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Nick Bagnall. In fall 2014, she returned to her classical roots in the Donmar Warehouse’s acclaimed all-female production of “Henry IV,” opposite Dame Harriet Walter, directed by Phyllida Lloyd. In summer 2014, she played the lead in the European premiere of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty musical, “Dessa Rose,” at Trafalgar Studios.

Erivo’s additional theatre credits include the Perfect Pitch musical, “Lift,” directed by Steven Paling; Kneehigh Theatre’s production of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” at the Gielgud Theatre; the starring role of ‘Deloris Van Cartier’ in the UK tour of Jerry Zaks’ production of “Sister Act;” Harry Hill and Simon Cowell’s critically acclaimed musical, “I Can’t Sing,” at the London Palladium in the West End; Simon Stephens’ “Marine Parade,” which premiered at the 2010 Brighton Festival, John Adams’ experimental song play, “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw The Sky,” at Theatre Royal Stratford East; and Dominic Hill’s “The Three Musketeers and The Princess of Spain” at Traverse, Belgrade and English Touring theatres.

In addition to her stage career, Cynthia is an accomplished songwriter, having written the song, “Fly Before You Fall,” for the 2014 feature film “Beyond the Lights.” In March 2015, she made her solo concert debut with the show entitled “Hear My Soul” at Kings Place in London. In September 2016, Erivo starred as ‘Cathy’ alongside Joshua Henry in a one-night benefit concert performance of Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years,” with proceeds going to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Erivo has performed with symphonies and music spaces including the Kennedy Center Honors, the 2020 Academy Awards, the 2017 Governor’s Ball (the official post- Oscars celebration) and the 2017 Grammy Awards.

A UK native, Erivo graduated from the famed Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2010.

Born in Evergreen Park, IL, Lyric started demonstrating her acting talent at age 2 when she would recite lines and scenes from some of her favorite films. Lyric’s television debut came at the age of 11 when she appeared in an episode of the USA Network series Sirensand NBC’s Chicago Fire.  Shortly thereafter, Lyric joined the cast of the Indie film The Year That Changed Us; the Untitled Lena Waithe Project and the indie film, Canal Street where Lyric portrayed the daughter of a Chicago prosecutor (played by Mekhi Phifer).

In 2017, Lyric booked a breakout role on NBC’s hit series This Is Us, as Randall Pearson’s (Sterling K. Brown) troubled foster teen daughter. Early that year, the network and show creator, Dan Fogelman conducted a nationwide search for the young actress that would play the captivating role of ‘Deja’. Lyric taped her first audition for ‘Deja’ from her home in Chicago, IL and shortly after got the call to come to Los Angeles, CA to meet the creative minds behind This Is Us and after was cast as a series regular on the award winning series.

Lyric’s performance as ‘Deja’ has earned her several award nominations and one win including; Teen Choice Awards nomination for Choice TV: Breakout Star (2018), BET Awards for Young Stars (2019) and 2 NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special Television Movie or Limited Series) in 2019 & 2020 and also Lyric was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2020. In 2019, alongside her This Is Us castmates, Lyric won a Screen Actors Guild Award in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Gabourey Sidibe made her film debut as the title character in Lee Daniels’ Academy Award-nominated film, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

For her role as “Precious,” Sidibe received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress, as well as SAG, Broadcast Film Critics and BAFTA nominations. She won the Independent Spirit Award and an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress, the Breakthrough Performance Award from The National Board of Review and the Vanguard Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Sidibe’s television credits include memorable roles on several seasons of the Emmy Award-nominated anthology series “American Horror Story,” and all seasons of the Golden Globe Award-nominated series “The Big C,” opposite Laura Linney. She also recently played the role of ‘Denise,’ alongside Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner, in all three seasons of Hulu’s hilarious “Difficult People.” She can currently be seen in her series regular role as ‘Becky’ on the smash hit series “Empire.”  In 2010, Sidibe had the distinct honor of hosting “Saturday Night Live.”

In addition to “Precious,” Sidibe’s film credits include Gregg Araki’s “White Bird in a Blizzard,” opposite Shailene Woodley; the action-comedy “Tower Heist,” for director Brett Ratner, opposite Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller; a cameo appearance in Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” opposite Woody Harrelson; “Grimsby,” opposite Sacha Baron Cohen; “Life Partners,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; Victoria Mahoney’s independent film, “Yelling to the Sky,” which premiered at the Berlinale Film Festival; and most recently “Antebellum,” from the producers of “Get Out,” opposite Janelle Monáe.

Sidibe made her directorial debut with the short film “The Tale of Four,” as part of Refinery29’s groundbreaking Shatterbox series. The film won the Audience Award for favorite narrative short at both Urban World and the Black Star Film Festival. She directed two episodes of EMPIRE and a PSA for Spread the Vote for the 2020 election

Included in Variety’s 2020 “Young Hollywood Impact Report” of talent to watch, actress Lovie Simone can now been seen in the lead role of “Tabby” in Sony’s reboot of the classic 1996 supernatural teen thriller THE CRAFT. This October, Simone starred in Netflix’s SOCIAL DISTANCE, a quarantine anthology series from Jenji Kohan. Simone is currently in production on the POWER prequel POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN. The Starz series will explore the early life of POWER’s Kanan Stark, and Simone will portray his love interest Davina Harrison.

Earlier this year, Simone starred in the title role of Amazon’s SELAH & THE SPADES, directed by Tayarisha Poe. The film premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance, with Simone receiving praise for her captivating performance. For five seasons, Simone starred as Zora Greenleaf in OWN’s NAACP nominated drama series GREENLEAF, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey.

In 2019, Simone starred in A24/HBO’s film SHARE, directed by Pippa Bianco. In 2018, she co-starred in the indie feature MONSTER alongside John David Washington, Jennifer Hudson and Jeffrey Wright. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her additional television credits include ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and BLUE BLOODS.

Simone was raised in New York and currently resides in Atlanta.