Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has become a new critics’ darling after
her breakout role in last year’s hit movie “12 Years A Slave.” Since
then, the award ceremonies and opportunities to dazzle photographers
have been plentiful for Nyong’o, whose mesmerizing performance as Patsey
earned her numerous accolades and recognition, including an Oscar for
Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Though
all this attention is new to Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico to Kenyan
parents, the young actress seems to enjoy all the hype around her.
But there is much more to her story than how she captivates the cameras on the red carpet.
CNN’s Stephanie Elam caught up with Nyong’o to speak about her journey from Kenya to Hollywood.
How did you end up being born in Mexico?
My
father is a politician. At the time he was also a professor of political
science and he was organising for democracy in Kenya. We were under an
autocratic regime and after a series of unfortunate events, including
the disappearance of his brother, he went into political exile in
Mexico. I was born in his last year there.
My parents raised all of us to just pursue our hearts’ desires. They
were like “figure out what your purpose is on this world and then do it
and do it to excellence; no matter what it is, whether it’s being a
janitor or a doctor, as long as you’re filling your life’s purpose then
we’re good.” No pressure to pursue one thing or another, although, I
will say my father was very upset when I dropped Physics.
Not too long after you arrived in Mexico you decided to go to
school in the United States. One of the things I read about was your
discovery of race in America and how it’s treated.
I grew up
in a world where the majority of people were black so that wasn’t the
defining quality of anyone. When you’re describing someone, you don’t
start out with ‘he’s black, he’s white.’ No, I was a girl, I was my
ethnic group Luo, I was middle class, I was many things before I was
black, so it was like a rearrangement when I came here and realised that
in America that’s the first thing that people notice about me. You
don’t hear that word, “black, black” very often in Kenya to tell you the
truth, so that was definitely jarring.
“12 years A Slave” is your first feature film. Where did you
go inside yourself to play a role like that of Patsey with such
generosity of spirit?
I don’t believe that we are, really
as individual, as we think we are and that’s what makes the profession
of acting possible — that we can empathise with things that are more
than our personal, limited experience. And I think that you do work and
like Oprah (Winfrey) said to me, “you let God walk in the door.” I think
it’s less about going into myself than opening myself; just opening
myself to the research, the script, the autobiography, the other things
that I read, the other things I saw and just trying to immerse myself in
a world that I personally don’t know — but
I know that my spirit does — and can know if I allow myself to open up to it.
There is something about acting that’s mysterious and magical because
there is only so much I can do to prepare and then I have to just let
go and breathe and believe that it will come through.
Because I think if I had been required to play Patsey in any sort of
methodical way where I go in and I never go out until we wrap the
picture, I don’t think I would have survived emotionally because it’s
heavy. But having those moments of lightness and separation from the
work we were doing on set was very important, even to fortifying our
trust for each other while we were doing the work.
How do you feel about all the hype surrounding “12 Years A Slave”?
I
didn’t know how, and we all didn’t know how the world would take this
film. It’s not an easy subject matter. It’s heavy but it’s beautiful and
you hope that people would at least open their eyes to see it — and
then they did. So my first feeling was relief that it had been so well
received and then they just kept receiving it and celebrating it and the
conversation has been developing and shifting; it’s been so exciting
and for me to be part of that celebration and my work to be lauded in
all these ways has been amazing.
And I’ve felt relief as well that people are registering Patsey’s
loftiness; in praising me I feel like her spirit is being uplifted,
really, because what I met in those pages of Solomon Northup’s book was
heartbreaking — and it still breaks my heart — and inspiring, and I
had the privilege of bringing her back to life. I’m just happy and
filled with gratitude to have had the experience in the first place and
for it to be so well received.
