Oscars 2020: Harriet star Cynthia Erivo on the brink of EGOT win after double nominations
British star is up for Best Actress and Best Original Song
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Your support makes all the difference.Cynthia Erivo is on the brink of a historic EGOT win after scoring two nominations at the 2020 Oscars.
The British star is up for Best Actress and Best Original Song for her performance in Harriet, the 2019 biopic in which she portrays abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Erivo has already secured an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony, meaning she’s one Oscar away from becoming the 16th EGOT winner ever. At 33, she would also become the youngest recipient ever, beating current record holder Robert Lopez, who received all four awards by the age of 39.
If she wins at least one of the two Academy Awards she’s nominated for during the ceremony on 9 February. the actor will join the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Audrey Hepburn, who have all won all four trophies needed to become an EGOT recipient.
Erivo won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2016 for her performance in the stage production of The Color Purple.
She received a Grammy in the Best Musical Theater Album category in 2017 for the same musical, as well as a Daytime Emmy for a performance on the Today show.
The actor reacted to her two Academy Awards nominations on Monday, saying in a statement: “To receive two Oscar nominations for a film paying tribute to Harriet Tubman, a person whose heart and spirit are the embodiment of courage, makes this morning’s news beyond anything I could have ever imagined. This is more than a dream come true.
“When I got the opportunity to play this incredible woman, I felt truly honoured that Kasi and our producers saw fit to have me play the part; being asked to co-write and perform the song in the film was the icing on an already wonderful cake. I continue to feel overwhelmed with gratitude today to the Academy for recognising my performance and our song ‘Stand Up’.”
Fifteen people in total have received an EGOT, including Tim Rice, Rita Moreno, and Helen Hayes.
Others, such as Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli and Quincy Jones, have received all four awards needed to complete an EGOT, but at least one of them was non-competitive, meaning it was an honourary award rather than a traditionally awarded title.
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