Lupita Nyong’o “…. I’m not a theory. I’m an actual person.”

In a recent CNN Inside Africa interview with legendary Beninoise musician – Angélique Kidjo, Lupita Nyong’o revealed what life was like after her 2014 Oscar win and the roles she was being offered.

“After I won that Academy Award, you’d think, ‘I’m gonna get lead roles here and there,'” she said. “[They’re like], ‘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 are the kind of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.”

She became the subject of think pieces speculating whether her career would stall, commentary she believes was shaped by her being dark-skinned and African.

“There were think pieces of ‘Is this the beginning and end of this dark-skinned Black African woman’s career?’ I had to deafen myself to all these pontificators because, at the end of the day, I’m not a theory. I’m an actual person.”