Cynthia Erivo discusses her debut solo album 'Ch. 1 Vs. 1'

Cynthia Erivo may already be a Grammy winner, but she's still scared to have her debut solo album, "Ch. 1 Vs. 1" out there for the world to hear.

"I'm excited. I'm nervous. I want people to like it. I want people to enjoy it. I want it to do well. You know, I want the same things most musicians want for their music," said Erivo. "A lot of these songs are really personal. So, I'm ready to share something about me and my life and who I am. And I hope people are open-armed and open to listening to that. So I just hope it as well. It's like another part of my life I get to sort of see come to fruition."

Released earlier this month, most of the 12-track project was written during the past two years as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the globe. It's a mix of pop, alt-R and B and inspirational music with gospel undertones. Erivo co-wrote every song.

It's another milestone in Erivo's huge year which included an Emmy nomination for playing the Queen of Soul in "Genius: Aretha."

"I think it's such a strange thing, every time I bump into someone, someone says 'congratulations for everything is going on.' 'Congratulations, you're doing really well,'" said Erivo. "In the moment, you don't realize how much is happening all at once. And then, it takes me a second to be like, 'Oh my goodness, many things are happening all at one time'…and it's not until I take a minute to look at the whole that I realize there is a lot happening and I'm very lucky to be in this position - very, very lucky. It's really cool."

In addition to the Emmy and album, the British star's first children's book, "Remember to Dream," was released on Tuesday (28 SEPTEMBER 2021).

"In the most simplistic way, it's about teaching young kids to follow their dreams, but for then, dream all of the details you possibly can so that you have almost like a roadmap to it."

Erivo also has a slew of film projects in the works, and she just wrapped filming her role as the Blue Fairy in the live-action remake of "Pinocchio" starring Tom Hanks.

"I didn't get to work with Tom Hanks directly - we were shooting on different days. But I really enjoyed doing it. It's one of those legacy songs. I get to sing, 'When You Wish Upon a Star.' And it's like the song of Destiny. It's just was like really cool. I was flying most of the time and, you know, in a fairy costume that's really beautiful. It was like a dream job."