Let’s change the world

«I am very hungry». Lupita Nyong’o apologizes for picking from a fruit salad basket while talking to me. We are sitting in a room hidden at the end of a long aisle inside a building somewhere at Universal Studios in Hollywood (I got lost trying to find the place) but she looks like she could easily be at a much more formal event, thanks to her natural beauty and elegance. Her new movie, Us, is coming out in Italy on April the 4th. It’s a horror story, directed by Jordan Peele, who won an Academy award for best original screenplay for Get Out last year. The movie, a psychological horror, was also nominated for best picture and best achievement in directing. I met Lupita a few days after the Academy awards ceremony. She was there for Black Panther, the movie she stars in as Nakia, a fierce, loyal fighter who guards the life of Black Panther himself. And Peele also was there as the producer of BlacKkKlansman by Spike Lee. As we all know the Oscar for best picture eventually went to Green Book. We are also all aware of the controversy that followed. «Would you comment on that?», I ask. «You would be surprised to know how much more you journalists know about these things», she says. «Do you think that Spike Lee deserved more recognition?», I insist. «No», is all I get as a final answer. She softens it with a smile and a laugh. Let’s talk about Us, then. Is it true that you really wanted to do a horror movie? «It is. I don’t particularly like watching them because they scare me, but I’ve always been fascinated with the genre and curious about being behind the scenes. I’ve always wondered if it would be scary to make a horror movie». And is it scary? «No, it’s not. I mean I had to go to scary places in my mind, my dreams while we were shooting were kind of weird. But, I am sorry to say, the actual making of it wasn’t scary. I watched Get Out five times in a month and Jordan Peele shot up on the list of directors I needed to work with. So, I think I said yes in my mind even before reading the script: “Whatever this is I’m going to do it, he is so brilliant”. So I read it just to confirm my decision. But at that point I was even more intrigued. I loved the character and the fact that he wanted me to play two characters, so different from each other but so connected as well, that was a bonus. How many times do you get an opportunity like that?». You did Black Panther, and after Us we will see you in Little

Monsters, a comedy, and then in 355, an all female cast spy movie. It seems that you really want to explore all genres. «Yes, I want to have a diverse career. I like doing different genres but also different scales. I went from shooting a plus 100 million budget movie like Black Panther to a 5 million dollar film like Little Monsters. It keeps my “muscles” exercised». Talking about opportunities, you will debut as a writer this year. It’s a book for children and it will come out this fall and it’s the story of a little girl that doesn’t feel beautiful because of her dark skin. To what extent is this an autobiographical story? «Sulwe is about a five-year-old girl, she is the darkest in her family and she is having problems loving herself, she would really prefer to have a lighter shade of skin an so the book is about her journey to self-acceptance and how to look beautiful in her own skin. And it’s very autobiographical. It was inspired by a speech I gave at the Essence Women Film in 2014 where I talked about my own experience about living in a world where lighter skin was preferred. When you look at a screen and everybody there is pale skinned with long hair and everybody is being touted as beautiful, subconsciously it programs the mind to say you are not those things therefore you cannot be beautiful. Then the world further confirms that by valuing lighter skin over dark skin and then those systems of value intrinsically affect people with darker skin. It took time for me to understand that it wasn’t right, to learn how to fight against that and rise above it and find beauty in myself. So, it’s not fictional at all». So how did you learn to fight against it and to accept your own beauty? «I have to thank my family, my parents especially who infused a great love in me. That love helped me to see myself differently». Did your parents also tell you that you were beautiful the way you were? «Sure, but who listens to their family? They’re supposed to say those things. And eventually you have to start giving recognition to those people who may not be getting it and that’s why I wrote a children’s book, because I wanted to talk to an audience of young people before the world told them they were not good enough so that in their subconscious they can have a reservoir of value that they can recognize and bring to the fore». 2014 is also the year you were chosen as Ambassador by Lancôme. Considering what you just said and the fact that you are the first black woman to represent the brand, does that have a special meaning for you? «Yes, sure. Because I didn’t always feel beautiful and to get to a point where I can be a symbol for lots of girls like me, that was a big deal. That meant to be able to assume the same role other people had filled for me, like Alek Wek. I think it’s very important to have those images that you can look up to, you can relate to. The fact that I am that woman for someone out there means everything to me». I noticed something: you very often direct your speeches to kids or you talk about the time you were a child – you did it in your Academy acceptance speech – and now you wrote a book for little girls. «You are making an observation that I haven’t made myself. The reason I think is that all our wounds form in our childhood and we spend our adulthood trying to heal those wounds. And, it’s interesting, the character I play in Us, Adelaide, had a childhood trauma that she is dealing with, she has to address her demons, the pain from the past. I think we all do that». You started acting very young, you were 14 when you made your professional debut on stage in Kenya. But then it took a very long time for you to go back to that early passion and decide to become an actress. Why? I mean it seems even more difficult to understand the reason considering that you come from an artistic family, your father for example was an actor at the time he was a student. «I didn’t come from a society, an environment where that seemed like a possibility. I didn’t know many people that acted and that were paid for that. You don’t know what is possible until you don’t see an example of it. And that’s also why it’s so important to have inclusivity in art and in popular expression. Because you can’t be what you can’t see». Let’s talk about inclusivity in the movie industry. Is it getting better? «A wise man once said: “Don’t congratulate yourself too much and don’t berate yourself either”. That’s what I feel about what’s happening right now. There is progress but it’s not time to congratulate or berate. It’s about putting one foot forward and making the change happen».

You once said that teachers at school taught you how to deal with failure but not with success and you added that success can be as stressful as failure. It’s another interesting, wise thing to say. «Your body doesn’t distinguish between stress coming from good or bad. It just registers stress. Everyone is looking for success, that’s what our society values, but it comes with a cost and it can be detrimental if you don’t address it and take care of yourself». So, was it good for you to win an Oscar when you were young, 29 years old, but not too young? «Sure. I am grateful that that accolade came at a time I already managed to figure out who I wanted to be. If I had won at 19, it would have been much more difficult». You won for your role in 12 Years a Slave, an abused, mistreated slave. Recognition like that is huge and I am sure you were very happy, but would you have been even happier if you could win the same prize for playing a free, successful woman? That would mean a lot culturally speaking. «You are asking me to comment on a macro problem. But there is no world in which I would regret or reconsider playing Patsey, because without that I wouldn’t be here». I understand, but, as you pointed out, I was referring to a macro issue. The fact that for a long time many movies centered on black characters were telling stories about slavery, abuses and so on. «I know. But I am subjectively involved in it. You are asking me to step aside from myself. I won’t do that, I am too close to it and it’s not my job, I am very happy to have other people theorize about this subject. At least that’s the way I feel now. Ask me again when I am 95, maybe I will have an answer then». Was there a moment after the Oscar when you were afraid of being pigeonholed? «Well there’s always that fear, right? I think every actor has that concern. You get known for something, it’s very easy to continue in that. And that was the beginning, that was my very first film and for it to get the recognition that it did, I think there was a concern there, like: what else am I going to get to play?». You produced and directed a documentary, In My Genes, on the discrimination against an albino woman in Kenya. Ten years have passed so how do you feel about that project today? Are there other stories you would like to tell? «I am very proud of that documentary and it was a feat to do it, I hadn’t done anything before. And I am proud of what it was able to do for the community in Kenya, it led to a lot of developments for the albinos in society, there and in other countries. I would like to make more documentaries but the thing is that you have to find a subject you are so passionate about that it keeps you awake at night and I haven’t found any like that. I hope I will». Meantime you are keeping yourself very busy. It seems that you are working on many projects. «I’m producing a movie based on Trevor Noah’s book Born a Crime and a tv series called Americanah at the moment. I started working on this project before 12 Years a Slave came out. I was pursuing the rights because I knew it was something that I wanted to make. Producing is a matter of necessity. As an actor you wait for a lot of people to get in line before you can do your bit. While producing puts you in the driver seat, makes you able to envision and realize stories you want to see told». Is this the greatest benefit that comes with an Academy Award? «Absolutely. 12 Years a Slave gave me the power and influence to seek the things that I wanted to do and to even have a hand in making them happen. Now I can walk into rooms and say: “This is what I want to do next, can we do this together?”. I’m very fortunate as an actor to have a say in where my career can go. Once that blessing was bestowed on me, and that’s the real blessing of winning an Academy award, is winning the right to choose». Does it sometimes bother you that the media focus more on your beauty than anything else? «I don’t think I would ever tire of being called beautiful (She laughs). I don’t rely on it but it feels good and I’m not mad at it at all. Especially because I grew up feeling like a little bit of an ugly duckling it’s always extremely exciting».