Star Wars, Black Panther, and a dive into horror: Lupita Nyong'o aimed high, and she's landed among
the biggest stars of our time. How did she get her start? Keep watching for the details.
Lupita Nyong'o's acting career began when she joined the Phoenix Players,
a national repertory theater in Kenya, at the age of 14. But before she could become
an award-winning movie star, she had to get her foot in the door somehow. She actually
got her start working behind the scenes as a production assistant. As she recalled to Vogue,
a friend got her a job working on the 2005 film The Constant Gardener while
she was attending Hampshire College and back in Kenya for summer break.
This opportunity was one that shaped who Nyong'o would later become as a professional actor,
giving her invaluable tools and experience. Still, as formative as her time as a production
assistant was, Nyong'o always knew she wanted to be an actor. She got her feet
wet with the 2008 short East River. According to IndieWire, director Marc Grey described the
short as being "about the relationship between physical and emotional space."
The short was only the beginning, as Nyong'o moved on to be part of Shuga,
a soap opera in Kenya. While there was plenty of hooking up in the series, it also made
space for important subject matter. In a 2010 interview with CNN, Nyong'o said of the series,
"I think one thing ['Shuga'] is trying to do is talk about how HIV and AIDS
is not a death sentence. [HIV] is a condition that can be managed,
if one chooses to do so, if one catches it early on you can live
a healthy life with HIV. I've been able to be an ambassador for HIV and AIDS."
Lupita Nyong'o attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts for undergrad, but her educational
path did not end there. She then went to Yale to get her MFA in acting, graduating in 2012. Max
Gordon Moore, a fellow alum who was in a school production with Nyong'o, told The Daily Beast,
"The first thing you notice about Lupita is how stunning she is, of course. [...] You could
see she was incredibly committed and capable of very delicate feelings and very, very talented."
In an interview at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Nyong'o shared
that she headed to Yale to pursue her master's degree once she determined that acting was the
only path for her. And it sounds like actor Ralph Fiennes' words of wisdom were just the
push she needed. She recalled telling him that she hoped to become an actor.
"He said to me, 'only do it if there's nothing else in the world you want to do,
nothing else you feel you need to do.'"
By the time Lupita Nyong'o finished up at Yale, she had a few acting credits to her name. Oh, and
she'd already secured a life-changing role in the 2013 drama 12 Years a Slave. As she told Vulture,
"I actually got cast, I think, three weeks before I graduated."
But even after she scored the part, she feared she could be fired at any moment. She told Vulture,
"I had impostor's syndrome until the day I landed in Louisiana."
Nyong'o was thrilled to work with acclaimed director Steve McQueen and alongside a whole
roster of Hollywood veterans. She also felt fortunate to play such
a challenging and important role. She said at the Toronto International Film Festival,
"I was in pain, but I was looking forward to going there, because I felt really privileged
and honored to have the responsibility of telling this incredible woman's story."
"All I ask, end my life."
The film was a success at the box office and with critics. When award season rolled around,
12 Years a Slave raked in the accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
On Oscar night in 2014, 12 Years a Slave was up for nine awards. In addition to Best Picture,
John Ridley's adaptation of Solomon Northup's memoir of the same name earned Best Adapted
Screenplay. Lupita Nyong'o won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. When accepting her
award, she started out by thanking the Academy before going on to add,
"It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my
life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's."
After thanking Steve McQueen, her co-stars, her family, and her educators, she said,
"When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every child, no matter
where you're from, your dreams are valid." A year after winning one of the biggest awards
in Hollywood, Lupita Nyong'o took her career down another successful path by stepping onto
a Broadway stage for the very first time. The play was Eclipsed, and the actor captivated the
audience with no hesitation. Charles Isherwood wrote in his review for The New York Times,
"Lupita Nyong'o, one of the most radiant young actors to be seen on Broadway in recent seasons,
shines with a compassion that makes us see beyond
the suffering to the indomitable humanity of its characters."
The beauty of this role? It came as a full circle moment for the young woman who
joined Yale with dreams of a successful career. She shared with Theatermania,
"In 2009, when I just joined the Yale School of Drama, I was cast
as an understudy to the role I'm currently playing. [...] So, I made a mental note,
put [playing this role] on my bucket list of things I had to do before I died."
This role wasn't only celebrated by Nyong'o herself. She was also recognized
by a nomination to the Tony Awards, where the play earned six nominations.
When an actor reaches a certain level of fame and success, there may come a time in which
they are asked to join an epic franchise. For Lupita Nyong'o, that opportunity came when she
joined the cast of the Star Wars sequel trilogy as the character of Maz Kanata.
"If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different people."
And of course, she was a fan before she became Maz. She told ScreenRant her love
of the franchise goes all the way back to being a
kid and watching the movies on TV while home from school during holiday breaks.
The characters in this fictional world are known by millions of fans and there
is a lot of weight that comes with taking on a new role. And Nyong'o took it very
seriously. Chatting about the Star Wars universe with The Guardian, she said,
"These worlds are created by human beings, and at the end of the day they are created to illuminate
something about us. So, under all the makeup, it's just human relationships and wants and desires."
"Han Solo!"
To create the character, both motion capture technology and animatronic
technology was used throughout the trilogy. Understandably,
seeing the end result was surreal for Nyong'o. She told Mom Endeavors,
"[T]o finally see the film and to see what became of her and somehow it's me, but it's
definitely not me; it's bizarre. I've never seen myself like that, in another body all together."
Many Hollywood actors dip their toes in the waters of voice acting, and Lupita Nyong'o is
no exception. She gave voice to the character of Raksha in the 2016 version of The Jungle
Book. Bustle called Nyong'o's portrayal of the mother wolf a standout performance.
"The cub is mine, mine to me, so go back to where you came from you burned beast!"
For Nyong'o, taking on the role of such a maternal,
nurturing figure meant a great deal to her. As she told Adventures of a Nurse,
"I have a lot of very, very powerful women in my life. My mother being the
first. And most important. [...] For me, that spirit,
that tenacity of mothering was something that I thought that inspired, my version of Raksha."
And yes, The Jungle Book is yet another major hit in her filmography. The film, which was
helmed by Jon Favreau, not only won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but brought in a
lot of money. According to Box Office Mojo, the adaptation grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.
Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe has more or less become a rite of passage in Hollywood. Lupita
Nyong'o's MCU journey began when she was brought on to play Nakia in the 2018 film Black Panther.
It goes without saying, but Nyong'o was beyond excited to
be a part of the film. Speaking on Live with Kelly and Ryan, she said,
"They don't show you a script. It's top secret and you get the script when you absolutely have to."
"It's so deep. It's so politically and socially aware of itself. And awake."
The mix of relevance and the Marvel twist motivated her to take on the role.
After Chadwick Boseman's tragic death, some fans wondered if a second movie would be made. However,
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever became a way to honor the late actor and everything the first
movie represented. Of her character's role in the second film, she told Marvel Entertainment,
"What keeps her going? I think love of country and a love of her people. And
she is a very principled person. There are certain things she stands for. And
she really believes in the power of humanity together. I think she brings that to her work."
Lupita Nyong'o entered the horror genre in a big way when she joined the cast of 2019's Us,
Jordan Peele's followup to Get Out. She told BuzzFeed News she was so
eager to work with Peele that she was on board even before knowing what Us
was about. When the project was first floated her way, she remembered saying,
"Of course I'm doing it! Whatever it is. Now, let me read the script."
In Us, Nyong'o played a woman named Adelaide as well as Adelaide's
doppelgänger. To play the doppelgänger, Nyong'o altered her voice significantly,
and the end result really resonated with audiences.
"There was a girl…"
She told Yahoo! Entertainment,
"[The voice] was inspired by a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which is a condition that
is brought about inexplicably sometimes but often by emotional or physical trauma."
Us would not be the last time fans saw Nyong'o dive into horror. Deadline
reported in November 2022 that the actor was added to the cast of A Quiet Place: Day One.