Cynthia Erivo accuses Rada of 'a deep misunderstanding of what it is like to need money' as she recalls her 'exhausting' days as a drama student struggling to make ends meet

Cynthia Erivo has accused Rada, (Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art), of misunderstanding of what it is like to need money' as she recalled her time there. 

The British star attended one of the oldest drama schools from around 2006 until she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2010.

And in an interview with The Guardian G2, Cynthia, 39, recalled her 'exhausting' days as a drama student struggling to make ends meet.

The Wicked star said navigating that space was 'hard' as she held down three jobs, including working many roles at the Stratford East theatre. 

She said: 'I was exhausted all the time. We're in the classes and it's a Monday; I've worked all day on a Sunday, and probably done a gig at night, and I've come in. I'm falling asleep in class, so people were like "she doesn't care".'

Cynthia notes she had to turn down a backing singer gig with Westlife that would have lasted two weeks and paid her £10,000, which would have been enough for a couple of years' tuition. 

She asked the registrar if she could do it but was told: 'No you can't. If you go, you leave. If you stay, you stay.'

The singer now has a role as vice-president of the institution and says she 'wants it to be different,' and 'Rada is not an easy place to go to school. It takes it out of you.' 

She's not the first celebrity to recall the difficulties of their time at Rada. 

On Monday, Maxine Peake revealed she was told to 'lay off the chips' if she wanted to play Juliet while training at the prestigious drama school. 

The actress, 52, grew up in Bolton and gained a scholarship to attend, but Maxine has revealed how she was fat-shamed and told she wouldn't play lead roles due to her size.  

She told Anita Rani on the podcast Sisters of Defiance: 'I was told at Rada by a teacher, if I didn’t lay off the chips, I would never play Juliet. 

'Those were her exact words. To which I went, "I don’t want to play Juliet. She kills herself at 16 because of a boy".' 

Maxine said before she gained her place at Rada, she was rejected 13 times from other drama schools she auditioned for. 

She said: 'I’ve got a folder full of letters from 13 education companies that I’d auditioned for. Just nos. I’ve got a stack. I’ve kept them for years of just rejection letters.' 

And Cynthia first addressed the misconception that she was lazy while at Rada back in January 2025. 

She said during her first year, it was implied she was 'lazy' - and she was given 'tiny parts' in productions by way of punishment. 

Cynthia, who was born in London's Stockwell, had a job throughout the course, working at shirtmaker Thomas Pink, and says she was simply tired. 

She said at the time: 'I genuinely had to work much harder than other students, and I got penalised for it. I’d come in exhausted, and they’d say: "Well, she’s not dedicated. She’s not concentrating." 

'It took me a long time to make people understand that I wasn’t lazy – I was just tired.'

The star says she was served up another reason for being given lesser parts by the time she was in her third year, saying Rada told her she was 'efficient' and others needed the experience of bigger roles. 

She praised her acting coach at the establishment though, the late teacher Dee Cannon, saying she 'really understood what I was' and urged her to not conform to the 'strong, black stereotype', suggesting she was more suited to showing vulnerability. 

Last year actor David Harewood became Rada's first black president - four years after the prestigious school admitted it was 'institutionally racist'. He replaced Sir Kenneth Branagh who had been in post for nine years.

In July 2020, in response to Black Lives Matter protests, Rada admitted to being 'institutionally racist' and apologised for 'the role we have played in the traumatic and oppressive experiences of our current and past Black students, graduates and staff.'

Rada said it needed 'radical change' to 'create an anti-racist culture and institution.' To follow through with this commitment, Rada introduced a Institutional Anti-Racism Action Plan in 2022.

Cynthia shot to fame in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple five years after she graduated, earning a Tony Award.

But it is the retelling of how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West in the film adaptation of Gregory Maguire's book that has seen her achieve worldwide fame. 

Cynthia is now set to star in Prima Facie from November 13, an adaptation of the one-woman Suzie Miller play about sexual assault.