In 2008 she made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently starred in the Kenyan television series Shuga (2009). Also in 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary film In My Genes.
Nyong'o later completed a master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama, followed by her first feature film role in Steve McQueen's historical drama 12 Years a Slave (2013). Her role in the film was widely acclaimed, earning her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, among numerous other awards and nominations.
Lupita Nyong’o famously struck Oscar gold earlier this month with a screen-stealing performance as Patsey in her first feature-length film, 12 Years a Slave. Despite her sparse acting résumé, she’s reportedly having no trouble finding potential roles to follow her award-winning debut. Shortly before the Academy Awards, Nyong’o met with director J.J. Abrams for talks concerning the female lead role in his upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, reports the Hollywood Reporter. Though there’s no confirmation of what role, if any, she’s being considered for, THR suggests it could be a non-Caucasian descendent of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But Star Wars isn’t the only upcoming project rumored to be in Nyong’o’s sights. Speaking with Arise Entertainment 360, author and Beyoncé-sampled feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie coyly hinted at a big-screen adaptation of her acclaimed 2013 novel Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction over the weekend, starring none other than Nyong’o. Of the collaboration, Adichie said:
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I’m going to do the mysterious thing and say that Lupita might be making an announcement sometime soon … I don’t know. That announcement might be about Americanah … I don’t know.
The only thing I’ll tell you is that Lupita was a very early fan of Americanah. And so before she was sort of well known in the way that she is now, she wrote me the loveliest email—a very long and passionate email about Americanah. So I’m going to now play the mysterious person who won’t say more.
With so many talented actresses of color routinely overlooked by Hollywood, the concern over Lupita Nyong’o’s own future in film is not without merit. Add in the “It Girl” culture of competition Hollywood forces upon its young women and the odds are overwhelming stacked against Lupita based on race and gender alone. The fact that she was already taking meetings with J.J. Abrams before her Oscar win and only narrowly just lost out to Rooney Mara for the role of Tiger Lily in the next Peter Pan adaptation, though, suggests a possible attitude shift in Hollywood when it comes to the way it perceives women of color and their ability to carry a major-market film. Is it possible that Lupita won’t look back on her résumé in another 15 years only to find a long list of stereotypical supporting roles? If these castings rumors prove true, Nyong’o could get a shot at a career that rivals or even exceeds that of contemporaries like Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence. That, more than any Oscar, would surely validate her dreams.
Source: Slate's Culture Blog
Source: Slate's Culture Blog
