For Good Star Cynthia Erivo’s EGOT Chances Just Got Smaller

Wicked: For Good star Cynthia Erivo is one letter short of an EGOT (a performer holding an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), and many thought 2026 could be the year she becomes the 22nd person ever to earn this title competitively. Erivo has blown audiences away with her performance as Elphaba a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West and is a shoo-in for 2026’s Oscars Best Lead Actress category.

However, many are skeptical of Erivo’s chances of actually winning the acting Academy Award, with competitors like Jessie Buckley for Hamnet and Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value leading the race. But people also believed she would be eligible to win her Oscar for Best Original Song, as it was reported that Erivo collaborated on an original Wicked 2 song with Stephen Schwartz.

Wicked: For Good, adapting the second act of the beloved Broadway musical, will feature two new songs: “No Place Like Home” sung by Elphaba and “The Girl in the Bubble” sung by Glinda (Ariana Grande). However, Universal Pictures has now officially submitted Wicked: For Good to 16 Oscar categories, and the movie’s For Your Consideration list credits only Schwartz for both songs.

This means that only Schwartz would be an Oscar nominee/winner for “No Place Like Home” or “The Girl in the Bubble” in Best Original Song. Based on previous interviews, it was assumed that the nature of Erivo’s contribution to the song meant that she would be eligible to be a co-nominee. If she is actually eligible, it is unclear if this decision was made by Erivo and her team or Universal Pictures.

Now, Erivo’s chances of winning an Oscar and therefore an EGOT next year hang solely on Best Lead Actress, a more difficult category. Many have still not actually seen Wicked: For Good, and it is possible that she could emerge as a possible winner once her performance is being more widely discussed. However, Buckley seems to be the one to beat for a movie that is possibly a Best Picture winner.

Best Original Song is uniquely competitive this season, so it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that Erivo would win this award. Yet even the mere fact that it would give Erivo an EGOT might have motivated Academy members to vote for “No Place Like Home” over KPop Demon Hunters’ “Golden.” Now, the competition is likely still a very tight race between the two songs, with this aspect not factoring in.

Erivo won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding On-Camera Musical Performance in a Daytime Program and a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, both alongside the cast of The Color Purple. She won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, also for the revival of The Color Purple. She has been nominated for the Best Lead Actress Oscar twice (for Wicked and Harriet) and Best Original Song once (for “Stand Up” from Harriet).

Many people, likely including members of the Academy, wanted to see Erivo win an EGOT this year, making this update a disappointment. Meanwhile, Erivo has several more exciting projects coming up. It is still clear that after Wicked: For Good, she will be cemented as one of the most popular and critically acclaimed stars there is, which could lead to her getting the role that will win her this honor someday.

Release Date

November 21, 2025

Director

Jon M. Chu

Writers

Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory Maguire