Typecasting has knocked on the doors of every major actor in Hollwyood and world cinema. Noted actor Lupita Nyong’o of Black Panther and Us fame was also not so far away from that. In a recent interview, she noted how she was offered many opportunities to portray a slave after her Academy award-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave.
"It really did set the paces for everything I’ve done since. 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 said, talking to Grammy-winning musician Angélique Kidjo on CNN Inside Africa interview.
Calling it a "very tender time", Nyong’o said she had to ignore headlines that extrapolated on her Hollywood trajectory. "There were thinkpieces 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," she added, expressing hope to broaden storytelling for Africans in the entertainment industry.
"I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African," she remarked, adding, "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."
Nyong'o was last seen in A Quiet Place: Day One and The Wild Robot in 2024. Up next, she will be seen in Lunik Heist.
