If you chance upon Cynthia Erivo in the street, perhaps take a second before you launch into your best Elphaba impression.
The Wicked star paid a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday evening, where the host asked her about the “war cry” she performs at the end of her signature song, Defying Gravity.
“Do people come up to you and do it?” Jimmy enquired, to which Cynthia deadpanned: “Yes. Randomly. When I don’t ask for it.”
The British actor added that people tend not to even introduce themselves, instead preferring to “just go straight into it”, which often leaves her at a loss as to how to respond.
“I’m still trying to figure out how to [react].” she admitted “Sometimes it’s really delightful, sometimes it’s really, really wonderful.
“And I think what’s lovely is that people are willing to try it anyway. I think if the emotion has moved you to do that without even introducing yourself, then I think we’ve done something right, and I’m just going to go with it.”
Jimmy then asked if Cynthia had heard the Wicked battle cry from a fan in a toilet yet, to which the Oscar nominee was happy to confirm that she hasn’t – although that hasn’t stopped people asking for selfies in there.
“But I must say it’s not a bad place to take a picture because the lighting is usually quite nice,” she quipped.
Elsewhere in the interview, Jimmy asked the actor about receiving her third Oscar nomination for Wicked at the upcoming Academy Awards.
If Cynthia comes away with the Best Actress prize, she’ll be the youngest person in history to reach EGOT status, having already picked up an Emmy, Grammy and Tony for her performance in the musical The Color Purple.
“It’s very exciting, I enjoy it,” she enthused.
She also confirmed that she was on a flight when she heard about the nomination, remarking: “True to form I was defying gravity. I didn’t mean it to be that way, but the universe does what the universe does.”