Cynthia Erivo’s ‘Harriet’ Oscar Nominations Could Lead To Her Being An EGOT Winner

And not just any EGOT winner, but the youngest EGOT winner.

The 2020 Oscar nominations have been released, and among those nominated is Cynthia Erivo. The 33-year-old is nominated for best actress and best song for the film Harriet. The nominations are the first Erivo has earned, and if she receives either she will become the youngest person ever to become an EGOT winner.

READ: Cynthia Erivo Will Play Aretha Franklin In Upcoming Scripted Series, ‘Genius Aretha’

As the New York Times notes:

For “The Color Purple,” Erivo not only took home a Tony for best actress in a musical in 2016 and a Grammy for best musical theater album in 2017, but she also won a Daytime Emmy award in 2017 for outstanding musical performance in a daytime program.

Harriet, a biographical film on abolitionist Harriet Tubman, was released last year. When it was announced that Erivo was going to portray Tubman, she faced criticism for the casting because she is British and not an African-American actor who’s a descendant of slaves.

Erivo addressed the backlash to the casting during an interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.

“I think that the best actor should have the role. And I think that there is a world in which we can play different people,” Erivo said. “Like, I didn’t become an actress to play loads of English women. I became an actress to play really wonderful characters.”

Among those have attained EGOT status include Whoopi Goldberg and John Legend, the latter of which became the first black man and the youngest person ever to achieve the status after he won an Emmy for his role in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2018.

H/T: New York Times