By Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o is pretty busy right now, coming off “A Quiet Place: Day One” this Summer and lending her voice to the animated feature “The Wild Robot” later this month.
Appearing on the Marc Maron WTF podcast this week, she was asked to reflect on her work in Marvel’s “Black Panther” franchise and she opted to share stories about the anxiety about making the film by everyone involved.
It seems those working on the film were aware of the serious stakes that came with doing a black Marvel superhero film and what could happen if it didn’t work:
“There was a lot of fear, of course, because the studio was taking a chance doing this all-Black superhero movie. Yeah? There was definitely fear that we felt.
‘Even for us. Being like, ‘We’ve got to get this right. We cannot fail.’ Because all too often we hear the lie that Black material doesn’t sell. That a Black experience is not a global experience.
And we had to prove it wrong. There was a feeling of ownership and determination on that set that was just like [makes fearsome unwavering sound].”
The result however was a major success, still one of the most critically lauded Marvel films and grossing $1.35 billion worldwide.
Nyong’o also spoke about the effect of colonialism on people growing up in Africa where British history, rather than African history, was often taught:
“It was aspirational. As an African, I live with the tension of having fundamentally lost a part of myself through colonialism and the valuing of culture that isn’t my own… so much of it was deliberately erased.
I often think, ‘What would we have been if we hadn’t been [forced] to switch gears and appreciate capitalism, and modernity as it is prescribed by a Western world?’ And ‘Black Panther’ was a chance to live that dream.”
Nyong’o’s turn in “The Wild Robot” can be seen in cinemas from September 27th with the film having recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The post Nyong’o Reflects On “Black Panther” Risk appeared first on Dark Horizons.
