I love filmmaking, but I decided to go to drama school because I thought that when I’m 60 and looking back on my life, if acting hadn’t been a part of it, I would hate myself. – Lupita Nyong’o
My parents gave me a Mexican name. In our culture, we are named after the events of the day. – Lupita Nyong’o
My mother talked about the stories I used to spin as a child of three, before I started school. I would tell this story about what school I went to and what uniform I wore and who I talked to at lunchtime and what I ate, and my mother was like, ‘This girl does not even go to school.’ – Lupita Nyong’o
I grew up in a world where the majority of people were black, so that wasn’t the defining quality of anyone. When you’re describing someone, you don’t start out with ‘he’s black, he’s white.’ – Lupita Nyong’o
I never understood who all those people are behind the actors! When you see them on the red carpet on TV, you go, ‘Why does that person need such a large entourage?’ And then you realize that every single person there has a role to play. – Lupita Nyong’o
When I was younger, I was almost too afraid to admit that I wanted to be an actor. I didn’t know any successful actors in Kenya, so I felt like I could get away with going to college to study film more easily than I could with saying, ‘I want to be an actor.’ That’s what I did. – Lupita Nyong’o
As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally. – Lupita Nyong’o
I didn’t know any successful actors in Kenya, so I felt like I could get away with going to college to study film more easily than I could with saying, ‘I want to be an actor.’ That’s what I did. – Lupita Nyong’o
I was born in Mexico because my father was teaching at a school in Mexico City. I was born during the third year he was there. And when I was 16, I returned to Mexico to learn Spanish. – Lupita Nyong’o
I’m interested in generating work for myself. I have trouble with this waiting-for-the-phone-to-ring lifestyle, especially after drama school, which was so creatively fulfilling. – Lupita Nyong’o
I grew up watching foreign programs – American, English, Mexican, and very little Kenyan. ‘The Color Purple’ was the first time I saw people who looked like me. – Lupita Nyong’o
It’s only when you risk failure that you discover things. When you play it safe, you’re not expressing the utmost of your human experience. – Lupita Nyong’o
The muscles you flex in theater are muscles that you really need. I must always find a way to get back there. It’s irreplaceable. – Lupita Nyong’o
I can speak of actors that I love. I love Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, her tenacity. I love Charlize Theron. She’s so surprising and so exhilarating, the kinds of projects she takes on. Marion Cotillard as well. – Lupita Nyong’o
I am thrilled beyond words that The Academy has recognized my performance in Steve McQueen’s ’12 Years a Slave,’ and I am deeply proud to be in the company of my fellow nominees. – Lupita Nyong’o
I come from a very close class. I lucked out because drama schools are often very competitive… I have fourteen classmates. – Lupita Nyong’o
Whoopi Goldberg looked like me, she had hair like mine, she was dark like me. I’d been starved for images of myself. I’d grown up watching a lot of American TV. There was very little Kenyan material, because we had an autocratic ruler who stifled our creative expression. – Lupita Nyong’o
I would love to have a career that’s governed by the material; I always want to be part of stories that I feel are worthwhile. – Lupita Nyong’o
The Hollywood Film Awards were really stressful. It was the biggest press line I’d ever seen. – Lupita Nyong’o
I grew up in the limelight and being the child of someone famous. So my relationship with fame is not bedazzled. – Lupita Nyong’o
There’s always a sense of newness with acting, because every role, you come to every role fresh. – Lupita Nyong’o
I was raised in Kenya, and I always wanted to be an actor from when I was really, really little, but the first time I thought it was something that I could make a career of was when I watched ‘The Color Purple.’ I think I was nine, maybe, and I saw people that looked like me – Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah. – Lupita Nyong’o