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Cynthia Erivo Talks Playing Aretha Franklin in ‘Genius: Aretha’ | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Mar 29, 2021
Cynthia Erivo calls into Sway In The Morning to talk about her role as the icon Aretha Franklin.
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Cynthia Erivo Talks Playing Aretha Franklin in ‘Genius: Aretha’ | SWAY’S UNIVERSE https://youtu.be/kUn_-bidNrw
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0:00
[Music]
0:02
hey man our next guest is not her first
0:04
time being on the show
0:05
db can you please do the honors of
0:08
course she is returning to the show
0:10
again last time she came by i believe it
0:12
was to promote
0:13
uh harriet and she is a tony emmy and
0:15
grammy award winner and i think
0:17
it's only a matter of time before she is
0:19
a coveted egot winner
0:21
and she's been in movies like widows bad
0:24
times at the el royale and she was in a
0:26
very dope series
0:27
that uh premiered last year called the
0:29
outsider based on the stephen king novel
0:31
now she's back playing another real life
0:33
icon the queen of soul aretha franklin
0:35
and rika premiering sunday march 21st
0:39
on national geographic please welcome
0:41
back to the show cynthia arrigo
0:48
[Music]
0:56
this has been a really amazing week um
0:59
people are starting to you know see the
1:00
show and
1:01
and i've had some really lovely
1:02
responses so i'm i couldn't be more
1:04
happy if i tried
1:05
yeah oh yeah listen um your performance
1:08
in this series
1:10
is amazing and i want to prompt
1:13
everyone within the sound of our voice
1:15
to witness this magic
1:17
you know aretha franklin easily one of
1:19
our most prized
1:21
possessions when it comes to music
1:23
community
1:24
uh culture uh she's everything to us and
1:27
so
1:28
to take on that role you know not anyone
1:31
could just do it
1:32
you know not anyone just do it and and
1:34
not only did you do it
1:36
you you adjusted the way you look you
1:39
were able to
1:40
capture the way she sings i can only
1:42
imagine how much
1:43
prep went into that how long did it take
1:46
you before you felt like you were able
1:48
to master the aretha role
1:51
it's a strange because i feel like every
1:53
day was a learning curve so i
1:55
i i never i in my head i was never like
1:58
right i'm perfect
1:59
i know this back to front you know you
2:01
get to a place where you're like okay i
2:03
can really
2:04
i can dig in and i can and i can get
2:06
this
2:07
to a space but it will take me being on
2:09
set with everybody else
2:11
feeling what they feel responding to
2:14
what they give me to
2:15
in order to perform fully and that's
2:18
what it was and
2:19
you know right until the very last
2:21
episode i was learning because she was
2:23
shifting and changing so much all the
2:25
time the aretha you meet in the 60s and
2:28
the 50s
2:28
is certainly not that you're if you meet
2:30
in the 80s and the 90s and she has this
2:32
growth that happened through her life
2:34
that um that i was experiencing as we
2:36
were as we were shooting so
2:38
for me i was i was ready to to dig in i
2:41
was ready to do the work i'd done all
2:42
the research i needed to do
2:44
i'd looked at all the visuals i could
2:45
possibly find i could
2:47
listen to all the music and still do i
2:49
had been listening
2:50
since there was little but it was really
2:52
when i was on set
2:53
and moving through the years that i was
2:55
able to feel
2:56
confident enough to to speak the words
2:59
and
3:00
and live the years that she was going
3:03
through yeah
3:04
it's uh we uh you she kills it by the
3:06
way if you haven't started watching it
3:08
go ahead and start watching it on
3:09
national geographic
3:10
um i had a conversation with uh susan
3:13
laurie parks yourself
3:14
uh anthony hemingway uh brian grazer
3:18
um jennifer bryan you know we all had a
3:21
a
3:21
panel it was just a great conversation
3:23
and and i remember when you guys were
3:26
discussing
3:27
uh anthony was talking about the first
3:29
time you actually came in and they had
3:30
to hear you
3:31
it was a scene when you went in the
3:32
studio to work with the the white
3:34
musician yeah
3:35
and and you started blowing and right
3:37
then and there it was almost like
3:39
you know cemented that okay we got us a
3:42
winner what was that scene like for you
3:44
what was that moment like for you when
3:46
everybody had to hear you seeing aretha
3:49
um for me it was like i was waiting for
3:52
that man because it was one of the very
3:53
first scenes that we shot
3:55
um i'm singing live on set so you know
3:58
you're hoping that people lean in when
4:01
you when you open your mouth and you
4:02
start singing and
4:03
this is not your song and you're hoping
4:06
i hope aretha is done proud with this
4:08
moment um and what was really wonderful
4:10
is that
4:11
uh there was such wonderful energy and
4:14
people were really like paying attention
4:16
and
4:16
and i think there was an element of
4:18
shock because i don't know that people
4:19
thought that i would be singing live on
4:21
set and so when i was obviously antony
4:23
knows and
4:24
susan knows everyone who was you needed
4:26
to know
4:27
new but those people not the players in
4:29
the scene were not necessarily
4:30
um privy to the fact that i was going to
4:32
be singing live on set so
4:33
when that happened it felt like a lot of
4:35
magic was happening in the room and not
4:36
just because of me but because everyone
4:37
was
4:38
so attentive and everyone was paying
4:40
such close attention
4:42
to what was happening that it felt it
4:44
felt like a moment as light
4:45
in in the room which is really cool i'm
4:48
curious
4:49
um i know there were headlines about
4:51
aretha franklin's family
4:53
some of the members didn't approve
4:54
necessarily the genius series
4:56
but they approved of your performance uh
4:59
did have you heard from any of the
5:00
family members
5:02
i i have not i have not but like to hear
5:05
that makes
5:06
me very very happy um i don't know what
5:08
conversations went on with
5:10
with this new york national geographic
5:12
uh but i do know that
5:13
i felt like my duty was to do her proud
5:16
and that was really my
5:18
my only intention you know um so if
5:20
they're happy with the performance then
5:22
i'm happy okay they said they have no
5:25
grievances with the actors i think it's
5:27
a behind the scenes business thing
5:29
and you killed it yeah um that part
5:32
right there you killed me
5:34
okay mike muse mike muse who does our
5:37
political news
5:38
segment is on right now and uh i wanted
5:40
to invite you into the conversation give
5:41
it up for mike news ladies and gentlemen
5:43
mike muse
5:47
cynthia uh so great to be in
5:49
conversation um
5:51
cheers to your success and before we
5:53
dive into aretha i just wanted to
5:55
personally thank you
5:56
i watched you on souls of the nation of
5:58
this week
5:59
and your response to the debate that is
6:02
going on with black british actors
6:03
playing american actors
6:05
i've never heard it with such nuance
6:07
before and i think you've opened that
6:09
conversation up for us to advance the
6:10
conversation when you said that we've
6:12
yet
6:12
the black diaspora have yet to have a
6:14
global conversation among
6:16
each other on it and i think it's
6:18
because of that we have this tension but
6:20
i believe
6:20
your idea for us to start engaging that
6:22
conversation will
6:23
open up that dialogue where i believe we
6:26
will end in a very positive place so
6:28
thank you for advancing that narrative i
6:31
have a question when it comes to
6:33
aretha franklin she comes from you know
6:36
i'm from michigan the midwest i'm from
6:37
lansing michigan
6:38
home of the black church uh she her
6:41
roots were in the church
6:43
i'm just curious growing up you know
6:45
were you part of the church of england
6:47
and then how was that
6:48
diving deep into the black church that
6:51
was rooted
6:52
within aretha what type of studying did
6:54
you do
6:56
um i i was part of the church of england
6:59
um
7:00
because i'm a i was a kid that was nosy
7:02
and i was a kid that was
7:04
uh for all intents per uh starter
7:07
um when i went into the church for some
7:10
reason i felt really connected to gospel
7:12
music you know
7:13
um there are black families in london
7:16
also are connected to gospel music
7:18
because most of us are either african or
7:19
jamaican so we have our own types of
7:21
uh music that we listen to um as well
7:25
so and it's all rooted in the same um
7:28
rhythms and the same tunes so
7:32
it was something that felt very natural
7:34
to me and i started a gospel choir
7:36
in my very catholic church um
7:39
i felt like we were missing out on the
7:42
sound
7:42
that we needed and it i felt like we
7:45
were missing out on
7:47
something that gave us more access to
7:49
our face
7:50
um i was consequently told i couldn't do
7:53
it anymore so i left
7:54
um and and i when i went to
7:58
secondary school which is high school my
8:02
science teacher happened to also then
8:03
start the gospel choir there so we were
8:06
i've been learning about gospel music
8:07
for a long time and it
8:09
was never new to me and for some reason
8:12
those
8:13
songs feel really connected
8:16
i feel very connected to them because
8:19
when i sing them
8:20
i i feel like there's a different
8:23
space that i can access in my voice in
8:26
my
8:27
body in my mind more than i can for any
8:31
like anglican or catholic song or him
8:33
that i think um and so to be able to
8:36
dive
8:37
deeper into that world really felt like
8:40
a spiritual
8:41
journey to be honest you know and it
8:43
didn't just start here it started with
8:46
with having to learn the music for
8:48
harriet having to learn
8:49
the songs that she would use to
8:51
communicate
8:52
with people and that really i think is
8:55
the
8:56
beauty of gospel music that it is
8:59
communication as well it is
9:02
finding the words to say when you can't
9:05
say them
9:06
melody uh and lyrics sometimes helps you
9:09
access
9:09
the the wants and needs and desires that
9:12
you
9:13
can't access when you speak it and so
9:15
when
9:16
having the opportunity to learn it
9:18
through spiritual
9:19
in harriet and then moving towards uh
9:22
the more recent
9:23
gospel uh with aretha just felt
9:28
natural felt right um
9:31
we did an episode on amazing grace and
9:33
that
9:34
you know when i when i watched her it
9:36
felt like she was about to take off take
9:37
felt like she was about to fly
9:39
and honestly um there were moments where
9:41
it felt like that for me you know you
9:43
hear all those voices it feels like
9:45
community it feels like a communal um
9:48
offering uh when you sing together and
9:51
then to be able to
9:53
do that too to access it because it's
9:54
the only way you can to mean it
9:56
um just it's one of the wonderful
9:59
moments
10:00
of experience yeah loving it man
10:03
uh this is dope man we're talking about
10:05
genius aretha on the national geographic
10:07
channel cynthia arrivo is with us right
10:09
now
10:10
[Applause]
10:12
man you just you've been hitting them
10:13
out the park you say wow hb
10:16
i do say wow cynthia what's up it's
10:18
heather how you doing sis
10:19
i'm so glad i'm kidding hey
10:23
listen sway citizens so i follow cynthia
10:25
on social media on instagram
10:28
like she straight up kills the fashion
10:31
game
10:31
like it's a thousand every single time
10:34
her fit would be absolutely ridiculous
10:36
fast
10:36
i'm looking at it right y'all and i'm
10:38
just like yo it's nothing that you can't
10:40
do and i'm thinking after harriet
10:42
and all the success and everything that
10:44
you shared with us the last time you was
10:46
at the show
10:47
on what you went through and then you
10:48
jump on it's like she didn't slack
10:50
i'm gonna do aretha with your fashion
10:52
game you're not scared
10:53
what's next for you are you trying to
10:55
play anna wintour i'm laying what you
10:57
doing next with this fashion game
10:59
cynthia because the is crazy bro
11:01
like you're killing it in the fashion
11:03
game too
11:04
killing it thank you thank you you know
11:07
it's about it really is about
11:09
just letting lose i don't have any fear
11:11
i'm not afraid of things not being
11:14
specifically fashionable i i dress to
11:16
to ex express myself and and i put
11:20
things together and whether or not they
11:22
would be the ordinary
11:23
that you would ordinarily put things
11:24
together i don't know i just sort of put
11:26
it together because it feels good
11:27
i work everything from class colors to
11:30
you know different shapes and sizes and
11:32
and i just have fun it really is about
11:34
that and
11:35
often you know when it comes to the red
11:37
carpets it's about
11:38
what what's going to start the
11:39
conversation what happens if
11:41
you know when i get out the car is
11:42
someone going to smile because they see
11:44
the outfit then
11:44
if that's if the answer is yes then i'm
11:46
probably going to veer towards it
11:48
because i
11:48
you know i think that fashion is more
11:50
than just the clothes you put on it's
11:52
the feeling you get as well it's how you
11:54
make people feel when they see you like
11:57
do they do they feel good do they want
11:59
to talk to you does it
12:01
are they repulsed almost as well like
12:02
does it feel does it feel bad
12:04
to the whatever as long as it's
12:05
something that starts the conversation
12:07
because conversation is always what
12:08
pulls us together
12:09
i think yeah beautiful you're killing it
12:12
you're killing it sis killing thank you
12:14
thank you cynthia this is tracy i'm so
12:17
happy to hear your voice as well
12:19
i'm thinking about hb hit it on the nail
12:22
and she just touched on your meteoric
12:24
rise
12:25
and obviously there's been so much
12:28
training so much studying so much work
12:30
behind the scenes
12:32
but in the case of fame something that
12:35
probably was not
12:36
on your vision board because i see how
12:38
much integrity how much
12:39
you're about the arts you know what i
12:41
mean versus the entertainment
12:43
yeah but it it comes along and there
12:45
isn't a fame
12:47
101 course to teach you psychologically
12:50
how to prepare for this matrix
12:53
so can you speak a bit from harriet now
12:56
walking all the way up into this point
12:58
how you've been able to navigate fame
13:02
um a good therapist
13:05
a really good therapist um really
13:07
beautiful wonderful friends
13:09
who have been there for me when i've
13:12
been at my worst
13:13
um and trying trying not always
13:16
succeeding
13:18
trying to carve out time that is just
13:20
for me uh for nothing else other than
13:22
like
13:22
to sit and watch something terrible to
13:26
sit and
13:27
read a book to sit and write some poems
13:30
writing songs in this last few years has
13:32
really really helped me um
13:34
like my you know i'm a musician i i sing
13:38
and
13:38
and i've i've written a new album but
13:40
that's really part of
13:42
the work that i was doing to sort of let
13:44
go of certain things that
13:45
were holding me that didn't need to hold
13:49
me anymore
13:50
and that's really been the help i i've
13:52
i've been lucky
13:53
to have the people and a creative spirit
13:56
and i think those things together have
13:58
been really helpful
13:59
yeah yes literally no way to prepare for
14:02
this kind of thing i
14:04
i really really didn't say i want to be
14:06
famous
14:07
i've never i had never said those words
14:09
i've never said those words
14:10
so you know and when you're
14:14
because for me i really was a theater
14:16
kid
14:17
i was doing pretty much only theater in
14:19
the uk
14:20
i came here to do a show on broadway
14:23
that was theater again
14:24
and that sort of opened the doors um
14:28
you i live in a state of yes
14:32
uh a state of like i'm open to what the
14:34
world
14:35
and the universe and god has forgiven me
14:38
but
14:38
i i didn't know what that would entail
14:41
completely
14:42
and so know i'm working through it and
14:44
new things are being learned every
14:45
single day
14:46
um and i hope i'm like living up to it
14:49
properly yeah
14:50
yeah here's my advice use the fame
14:55
don't let the fame use you
14:58
yeah yeah yeah mike muse did you hear
15:01
that mike news that was powerful right
15:03
all day that was good you like that okay
15:06
all right okay cool cynthia arrival
15:10
thank you for joining us it's good to
15:11
talk to you every time we have
15:13
conversations
15:14
um i'm not sure if that south by
15:16
southwest
15:17
panel we did is up yet but if um
15:21
but we had a great time talking that
15:23
time as well and continued success i
15:25
can't wait to see you in person
15:27
when the buildings open up you come join
15:29
us on the show again
15:30
okay i will absolutely thank you so much
15:33
for having me today
15:35
every time cynthia rival give a big
15:37
round of applause genius um
15:38
aretha you can find that on national
15:41
geographic
15:42
they got some great episodes and they're
15:49
[Music]
15:52
incredible
15:59
[Music]
#Arts & Entertainment