Lupita Nyong’o, one of the most exciting actors right now, opened up about her journey after she won an Oscar for her defining role in 12 Years a Slave. The acclaimed actress recently revealed that what followed were offers that were nowhere close to what she was expecting.
Lupita Nyong’o details roles she was offered after winning Oscar for 12 Years a Slave
Despite winning an Oscar and gaining immense critical acclaim for her performance in her first film, the Black Panther star received offers for stereotypical roles in the industry, shedding light on the existing bias.
Lupita Nyong’o discussed the same with Grammy-winning musician Angélique Kidjo in a recent CNN Inside Africa interview. “It really did set the paces for everything I’ve done since,” she said about her role in 12 Years a Slave. “But you know what’s interesting is that, after I won that Academy Award, you’d think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get lead roles here and there.’ [Instead, it was], ‘Oh, Lupita, we’d like you to play another movie where you’re a slave, but this time you’re on a slave ship.’”
Nyong’o added, “Those are the kind of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.” The Us actress also called this a “tender time” as the media extrapolated on her Hollywood trajectory. She stated, “There were think pieces about: ‘Is this the beginning and end of this dark-skinned Black African woman’s career?’ I had to deafen myself to all those pontificators because, at the end of the day, I’m not a theory; I’m an actual person.”
Moreover, Lupita Nyong’o divulged how her goal was to broaden the scope of African storytelling, but it always came attached with stereotypes. “I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African, and if that means that I work one job less a year to ensure that I’m not perpetuating the stereotypes that are expected of people from my continent, then let me do that,” she added.
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old actress will soon appear in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on ComingSoon.net.
