Kenyan-Mexican Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o has opened up about the unexpected challenges she faced after winning her Academy Award, revealing that the industry continued to offer her roles that reinforced narrow and harmful stereotypes about Africans.
The 42-year-old actress earned global acclaim and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her deeply emotional portrayal of Patsey in 12 Years a Slave . While the performance was celebrated worldwide, Nyong’o says she was shocked to discover that Hollywood continued to see her only through the lens of trauma narratives.
“It really did set the paces for everything I’ve done since,” she told CNN Inside Africa. “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.’ Those were the kind of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.”
Nyong’o described the period as a “very tender time,” noting that she had to tune out public speculation about whether her breakthrough role would be the peak of her career. “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.”
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The Black Panther actress, born to Kenyan parents, said she has made a conscious choice to be selective about her work, even if it means turning down roles that risk reinforcing outdated portrayals of African identity. “I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African,” she said. “And 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 also reflected on how everyday tasks can drain her creative energy. Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar , she said administrative responsibilities often “sap her vitality.” “There’s so many demands on our lives today. For me there’s a lot of administrative work, lots of emails to answer dishes in the sink! All of that can take away a lot of my vitality. So for me, creativity is something that I have to safeguard, I have to make time for it, and I have to be very deliberate… Creativity comes to me in the shower.”
Still, she shared a practical piece of advice she received from fellow Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon and it’s one she tries to follow closely. “The best piece of life advice I’ve received from another woman… Reese Witherspoon advised me to always be the first to answer group emails. And I think that’s great advice, because it means people will have to take you seriously as you’re quick to respond. I try.”
