Lupita Nyong’o: There is still discrepancy between white representation and everyone else in Hollywood

Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o says she is selective in the roles she accepts and the films she associates with, being a Black actor.

“We are still living in a time where there is discrepancy between white representation and everyone else, I do think that I am aware of the significance of the roles that I play [when it comes to choosing the right projects]. I do consider what they contribute to a larger conversation and a larger narrative,” she tells us, explains Nyong’o, who has openly spoken about colourism, representation and diversity in Hollywood in the past.

However, the 38-year-old clarifies, “I am very keen to keep the artistry in my craft and so I don’t see it as a responsibility. It is more like what opportunities do I have at my disposal to lend to the larger narrative.”

Nyong’o has starred in films such as 12 Years a Slave (2013), Queen of Katwe (2016), Black Panther (2018), Us (2019) and the recent The 355. She says that she wants to play different roles to shed different light on “what a person of my complexion, my race and my ethnicity can be in the inside.”

And the Kenyan-Mexican actor adds that at no point does she feel “a moral obligation to always play good. In the US, I played one or two very despicable people. It is just important to give colour to colour.”

Nyong’o lauds the conversations going on about representation and diversity as well as better place for women in films, something that has helped right from the beginning of her career.

“I feel I find myself encouraged by the growth in female representation behind the camera, in terms of who is producing, who the executives are at the studios etc. That is where the change really affects what happens in front of the camera. We have people like Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey….There is a change I see happening. It is encouraging for sure,” she ends.