Cynthia Erivo’s Wicked Press Style Gets Handsy

Cynthia Erivo’s theatrical premiere dress is here to lend a hand. The actress hit pause on her Elphaba green looks during the Wicked Mexico City debut last night where she instead opted for a stunning surrealist gown that could stop a Broadway show.

Erivo slipped into a custom Thom Browne outfit that mixed all-black sparkle with enough witch-y details to satisfy her inner Glinda. Although the actress’s floor-length gown featured flashy sequin embroidery and structured hips, it was the top half that commanded the most attention here. The actress wore a hooded and cropped suit jacket complete with 3D, life-like witch hands. Given Erivo’s penchant for statement nails, it was only fitting that her extra set of hands were designed with a crystalized manicure. Erivo’s actual hands also featured some major nail bling.

Like Ariana Grande who’s been all about Glinda pink recently, Erivo has embraced her Wicked character’s signature green hue on the red carpet. She’s worn just about every shade of the hue imaginable, from demure emerald at the Paris Olympics to the neon Brat Louis Vuitton look she brought to the film’s L.A. premiere over the weekend.

While Erivo’s Thom Browne look was completely devoid of green, it still managed to keep up her method style streak—in large part due to those surrealist witch hands.

In a recent interview, Erivo opened up about playing the role of Elphaba in the Jon M. Chu blockbuster and the process behind filming her character’s signature song, “Defying Gravity.”

“I was so ready to rule those words and mean them, because I was able to put together the things I had experienced in the film and the things I had experienced in my life to be able to say, ‘I’m defying gravity,’” she said, adding “Because it’s a really special thing to be able to proclaim those words. I was so looking forward to being the conduit to which I could bring that to people and hopefully have a bunch of people able to say, ‘I’m defying gravity.’”