“I always think of awards like this as things that come at the end of a career, and I think I’m not even in the middle of mine,” Cynthia Erivo said on Thursday night, to loud applause, while accepting the Santa Barbara International Film Festival ’s Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at a black-tie gala to raise funds for the fest’s educational initiatives.

The actress/singer, who looks likely to land a best actress Oscar nom for the second year in a row for portraying Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West, in a Wicked film — this time Wicked: For Good , the Universal blockbuster — continued, “I thank you for this because it reminds me yes, of how far I’ve come, but also of how much more I have to go. And this is a beautiful pit stop on the way.”

“I always thin

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