CYNTHIA ERIVO, the only black person nominated for an acting award at this year’s Oscars, has edged closer to exclusive EGOT status with her nomination.

The British actress and singer has been nominated in the best leading actress category for her performance in Harriet.

In the biopic directed by Kasi Lemmons, Erivo plays the abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Her work on the film’s soundtrack has also earned her a nomination for best song with Stand Up.

Erivo, who is already the recipient of an Emmy, Grammy and Tony award, will join just over a dozen stars who have received all four major awards if she wins an Oscar next month. She will also make history as the youngest ever performer with EGOT status.

It’s a rare feat and if achieved, Erivo will have done it all in under five years. But she acknowledges her Oscar nomination is bittersweet.

“It’s not enough that I’m the only one. It just isn’t,” the 33-year-old told The New York Times.

She added: “Far too much work was done this year by incredible women and men of color that should be celebrated.”

While her historic performance in Harriet has been deemed worthy of award contention by the Academy, Erivo was omitted from this year’s Bafta nominations.

Only white actors were listed in the shortlists for the British film awards ceremony.

The all-white acting shortlists has put Bafta at the centre of a backlash once again.

Erivo, who was nominated for an EE Bafta rising star award in 2019, was asked to perform her song Stand Up at the Bafta awards ceremony but refused in light of the nominations controversy.

Speaking to Extra on the red carpet of HBO’s The Outsider, Erivo said: “I felt like [the invitation] didn’t represent people of colour in the right light.

“It felt like it was calling on me as an entertainer as opposed to a person who was a part of the world of film, and I think that it’s important to make it known that it’s not something you throw in as a party trick, you know?”