Cynthia Erivo has an ingenious way of sniffing out her characters.
So how does she do it? While many stars rely on exhaustive research and Method acting to embody their roles, Erivo's magic secret is perfume. And for the bewitching blockbuster "Wicked: For Good" (in theaters Nov. 21), the scent that worked surprised even her.
For "Wicked: Part One," which was released last fall, "I was wearing Le Labo Lys 41," Erivo told USA TODAY in a recent interview for her upcoming book, "Simply More" (out Nov. 18). "And for Part Two, you'll never believe me when I tell you what it's called, but it's the truth. There's a scent by a brand called Vyrao called Witchy Woo. When I smelled it for the first time, I was like, 'It can't possibly work. I's not going to work! I’m not going to fall in love with this – it's too on the nose.'"
But after putting some on her hand, "it kept catching me off guard and it felt really good," Erivo continues. "I couldn't get it out of my brain and it for some reason worked with my body chemistry, so I went back to get it."
In the fantasy movie musical, the three-time Oscar nominee plays the misunderstood Elphaba, who leads a fight against the duplicitous Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) to save the animals of Oz. Erivo layered the floral scent of Lys 41 with the earthier tones of Witchy Woo to capture the many facets of Elphaba, who is labeled a wicked witch by Oz's corrupt government, but inside, she is still a compassionate idealist.
