Please welcome Lupita Nyong'o!
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back.
-Thank you. -Please. Please, take a seat.
Welcome back to the show.
-Thank you very much. -So good to have you.
And congratulations.
I've read numbers that say that Black Panther's on track,
right now, in, like, nine days, to cross $500 million.
(cheering and applause)
Are you as over the moon
as everyone else that's watched the movie?
Yeah. Probably a little higher.
-Right. -(laughs)
Yeah, no. It's amazing, amazing,
what this film has been able to do.
I mean, we could not have predicted this, you know?
Not only that the box office is quite handsome,
but, you know, the effect it's having on the world.
I mean, for the first time, I've seen people, uh,
paying for other people to go see the movie,
-and things like that. -Right, right.
It's become this community effort.
And that is incredible.
It really has connected with people
on a level beyond just a superhero.
'Cause, when you start with the basics,
this movie is an amazing film.
Black Panther is, it's an amazing Marvel film.
It's a superhero film.
But you dig into it, and you see that this film
is doing something that people seem to have been longing for
for a long time, and that is showcasing difference faces,
showcasing different people.
Was that something you were cognizant of
when you were making the movie? Did you go like,
"Oh, this-this feels different. This feels special,"
-while you were making it? -Oh, yeah, for sure.
From the very start when Ryan walked me through the story,
I was just like, oh, my goodness.
This is something that I want to see.
This is some-- this is a dream come true, you know?
That, um, we get to have a superhero that's African.
-Right. -And, um, he's-he's fly.
He's badass, he's intelligent.
He's got women all around him that are also badass.
-I mean... (laughs) -(whooping)
Yeah, and you know what? The women,
I think that's-that's the interesting part
of the story for me is...
I won't spoil anything for anyone,
but the-the women in this film aren't--
like, it's not women that are on the side.
It's not women that are subservient.
It's not-- it's like, no. These women are kicking ass
-in different roles in Wakanda. -Yeah.
-Yeah. -(cheering and applause)
And they're all individuals. They're all--
You play, I would say, the love interest,
and the inspiration, in many ways, to T'Challa.
When you were playing this character,
what were you trying to convey? What were you trying to give us
when you were playing your character?
Well, I think, uh, what...
Ryan really wanted to tell-tell a different story
-about-about love, you know? -Right.
In these kinds of genres, usually, um,
the-the love interest is being pursued
and she's won at the end and she's quite the B-plot
-and she doesn't have an effect -Right, right.
on, like, the main story.
And Ryan really wanted to free us of that
and show us a different look
at what-what it means to be in a relationship
and have agency in that relationship.
So, you know, it's not your average love story.
-Right. -You know, Nakia has her life going on
as well as her love.
And that's such a refreshing image.
And also to see a positive image of black relationships,
-you know, where... -Right. -(cheering and applause)
Yeah, like... (chuckles)
where the man...
the man, um, is present,
the man is-is interesting in what the...
interested in what the woman has to offer,
-the man, um, relies on the woman, -Right.
and the woman supports the man, you know?
That kind of healthy relationship.
And where you can argue about
and-and really tussle with real issues
and help each other achieve your goals
outside of just, um, your personal,
-intimate, um, stake. -Right.
-Yeah. -And I-I think there were a lot of people
who were history buffs,
people who study African culture,
who said what they loved is Black Panther felt
like it was a tip of-of the hat
to African culture as it was intended,
-where people were equal, -Right.
even though it was a patriarchal society.
Where people were going, like, "No, no, no,
"women served a different role at some point.
Women had more in different cultures."
-Yeah. -When-when you played your character
and when you have Danai Gurira,
-who's also amazing in the story, -Yeah.
you guys are badass. And-and there is a scene
that touches on something I-I thought was a rumor
but I found out is true and that was
no one had straightened hair in the movie.
-Oh, yeah. -No one had, you know, hair that was, like-like,
-you would use a curling iron on their hair. -Yeah. -(cheering)
Why-why was that so important?
Is that something that's important?
Well, I think it-it goes back to what is, um,
innately, uh,
considered beautiful on the continent, you know?
Before the advent of the white man,
black people on the continent
-were doing all sorts of things with their hair, right? -Right.
So the idea of extensions and all that, that is not new.
But the kind of shaming or, um,
rejecting of kinks and curls is new.
-And that did come with the white man. -Right. Right.
And so, in the story,
Wakanda is a country that's never been colonized.
-They don't know the first thing about the white world. -Right.
And so they embrace themselves. They embrace themselves.
They have their own sense of what is beautiful
and their own sense of augmentation.
And that's why you don't see any straight hair.
And-and you feel people connecting
with this movie in-in a...
in an authentic and also, I-I want to say, like, a...
like, a beautiful way, because it's not...
it's not anti anything. It's just pro.
-It's pro. It's enjoying being black. -Mm-hmm. Yeah.
-It's enjoying all different aspects of being black. -Yeah.
I've noticed people in the streets becoming Wakandans,
-which is mind-blowing. Yeah, like, Roy... -Oh, yeah.
like, Roy, for instance, went-went out to a Foot Locker,
and then when he was done, the guy was like,
"Have a good day, brother." And he was like...
-I love it! I love it! -And it's like peo...
This is like people are doing this now in the streets.
-I know. -People are... Have you noticed any of that?
Oh, my God, yeah. Yes... So, yesterday, I took a walk.
It was such a beautiful day yesterday in New York.
And so I was undercover. And, um, I-I took a walk to the park,
and I came across this group of teenagers.
And they were all barking like M'Baku. (laughs)
So they were doing... There's like a gorilla...
-There's a... -Like, it's a gorilla tribe
-that's powerful, and there's, like a... -Right.
The epic, like the "Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo."
Yeah, they were... Exactly, and they were doing that.
And-and I was just so amused, and I was giggling to myself.
And they were like, "Oh, my God." And one of them
hadn't see the movie, and they were like,
"You got to see the movie
so that we can make memes and GIFs."
(laughter)
Yeah, it was incredible.
Isn't... isn't it a little bit strange for you?
-You were in 12 Years a Slave. -Yeah.
Right? People would come up to you and be like,
"Oh, Lupita, that was amazing. That was a fantastic portrayal."
And now you're in what was supposed
to just be a superhero movie.
But it feels like, for this movie,
people are asking you the deepest questions
-about blackness and African culture. -Oh. Yeah.
And does the movie fix every single problem
that black people face?
And will this err...?
Will this fix the errors of the past and the...?
Isn't it a little bit overwhelming
-and lopsided for you? -It truly is, and I thought,
okay, I did 12 years a Slave, and the kinds of questions
I got that were deep.
And, you know, I had to almost, like, study
before I did my press tour.
And then, with this, I was like, "Ah, this is easy.
-It's just a superhero movie." -Right, right.
You know, I'll just talk about, like,
lifting weights or something.
But then, the questions are extremely deep,
and people are really relating to this on a very deep level.
I feel like I need a PhD just to, like,
-answer people's questions. -Right.
You did... you did lift weights, though.
-I did. -You did. Let's talk about that.
-(laughter) -No, you did lift weights.
You... like, you-you train...
How many months did you train to fight for was...?
Well, it was... I was training
for about four months before we...
Like, hand-to-hand combat?
Uh, well, first of all, just in New York.
-Conditioning... -Right, right.
and getting my body ready for boot camp.
And boot camp was six weeks
before we started filming, and we trained...
First of all, it started for...
It was, like, four hours a day.
And then, I was, like, bonking.
I was so tired, and then I was growing too buff.
And so they had to take it down
to just two hours a day, and, yeah,
that was very intense. -They were like, "Now there's two
"Black Panthers in this movie.
You're too strong, Lupita!"
(laughter)
Yeah, I mean, I had to...
'Cause I couldn't fit in my clothes after a little while.
-Right. -Yeah, 'cause my-my... my arms were just, like,
stones, and I was just like, "Okay, this was not the idea.
I don't need to take up more seats of the screen."
-You know? -Right.
And that just like, "Tone it down."
Uh, I would be remiss if I let you go
without speaking about news that came out yesterday.
Uh, apparently, you agreed to produce and star
in a film about a young South African boy and his mother.
-Yes! -Uh...
(applause and cheering)
Which is insane. Like...
Uh, first of all, I-I wanted to say thank you.
I mean, like, when we... when we first spoke about the book
as a concept, you were like, "I love this book,
I love this story, I love everything about it." Uh...
Well, you don't even... You're not telling the truth,
because the truth is, I was on the set of Black Panther,
and I got the book.
I preordered it, got it,
I read it, and I sent you an e-mail.
And I said, "Trevor, please, would you do me the honor
of letting me play your mother?"
-AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Aw. -(applause and cheering)
And then... and then,
I was like, "I don't know if it'll work out."
(laughter)
And then, she sent me a pic of her muscles,
and I was like, "Oh, that's my mom.
Yeah, that's mom. That's my mom. You can do it."
-I'm excited. Thank you for everything you're doing. -Ah.
Black Panther is amazing. You were phenomenal.
We'll see you here again. $500 million.
It's gonna be a billion dollars. We'll see you in the sequel.
-We'll see you in everything. Lupita Nyong'o. -Yes.
-Thank you. Thank you. -Thank you so much.
-Black Panther in theatres now. -Wakanda forever.
Lupita Nyong'o, everyone.