Award-winning actor, singer and songwriter Cynthia Erivo has taken on the roles of many characters in her distinguished career, but as she told a sold-out audience on Monday — her favorite role has become herself.

Fresh off her “Wicked” press tour, London-born Erivo delivered the keynote speech at the 77th annual Conference on World Affairs, which commenced this week at the University of Colorado Boulder, offering students and attendees — including Gov. Jared Polis — her thoughts on leading change by example.

Lines for her hour-long talk began forming outside the 2,000-seat Macky Auditorium as early as 2:30 p.m.

“Being in film, being in TV, being in music, often tells you to be someone else,” Enrivo said. “And for me, I had tried that, and it didn’t work.”

When she finally decided to be herself, Erivo said, that’s when things began to change.

“Once I had learned to be great enough to show up myself, it was easier to then say, ‘Hey you can actually achieve the things that you want by simply being who you are meant to be in the first place — you don’t have to change everything about yourself to do what you love,’” she said.

Born Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo, the Emmy, Grammy and Tony-award winner and three-time Academy Award nominee began her university career as a music psychology major.

However, she truly wanted to be an actor.

“It wasn’t the right thing for me,” she said.

Erivo left her university studies and joined a young actors’ company workshop.

Her instructor suggested she apply to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

She declined.

“The name itself says there’s no way I’m gonna get in,” she told the instructor.

The instructor gave an ultimatum and told her that if she did not apply to the RADA, she could not attend the workshop.

Reluctantly, Erivo applied.

“I applied to that drama school, and we used half of the workshop to prepare, learn my parts and all of the songs,” she said.

During the fourth round of auditions, a young girl had prepared the same speech from “Othello” as Erivo.

“She gets up before me, she starts her speech and freezes,” Erivo recalled. “Well, what am I supposed to do? Of course, I feed her the line, and we go back and forth. We both get in.”

Years later, Enrivo returned RADA, leading workshops and salons of her own.

In February 2024, she was appointed as the academy’s vice president.

However, Erivo’s connection to her green-skinned “Wicked” character Elphaba Thropp, was an experience she was able to relate.

“I love that she (Elphaba) is all of the things that most people fear,” Enrivo said. “She’s different. Her skin color is different. She exists in the world very differently, and I felt like it was allowed — and the fact that being different can actually be wonderful and that it doesn’t harm us to make a movie for people who are different.”

She added: “It felt like a wonderfully large chapel that got to echo all of the things that I love about myself that are often loved by many people.”

In closing, Erivo reminded students to “be gentle” with themselves and with others, adding that for some, allowing change to happen can be difficult.

“This is just a pendulum swing because we see pendulum swings happen all over the world, often enough throughout the years,” Erivo said of change. “And every time the pendulum has to come back because it doesn’t sustain one way or the other has to find out eventually. So be encouraged that change will happen because it has to — there is no other choice, so be open to it.”

The annual Conference on World Affairs brings together 53 thought leaders and experts for lively discussions across eight categories, including arts, business, human condition, international affairs, politics and media, and science and technology.

There is no charge to attend CWA, but registration is encouraged.

Other panels include discussions on the beauty industry, tariffs, corporate accountability, international business expansion, the business of sports betting, space exploration, and the gig economy.

CWA runs daily  9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Thursday at University Memorial Center, 1669 Euclid Ave., Boulder, 80309

A full schedule is available online at https://www.colorado.edu/cwa/2025-schedule.