Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o is the cover star of Marie Claire's March 2019 issue.
The 35-year-old actress spoke about her upcoming movie “Us” and the irresistible appeal of horror movies and the support she's received from her feminist father.
The Marie Claire introduction perfectly captures Lupita and her essence which has endeared her to millions of fans all over the world since she stepped into the spotlight. MC writes:
Lupita Nyong'o shows up early for lunch at a waterfront restaurant in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Dressed in a belted coat, midnight-blue turtleneck, and plaid shawl jacket, her hair braided into a crown laced with a thin golden thread, she looks like a movie star but presents as the flawlessly chic friend you’ve known since your teens.
As if you remember how gorgeous she was at the prom, but you also recall long nights throwing down on the dance floor and laughing till you cried.
Read excerpts from the interview below:
On the appeal of horror movies: What do horror films tell us about ourselves?” she wonders aloud. “How do they help us project our worst nightmares and then realize them? It’s fascinating to talk to Jordan about this stuff because he’s a complete scholar on this subject.”
Sounding like a scholar herself, she notes, “Horror movies give us permission to be afraid in a world where you’re not often encouraged to be fearful. Fear is something that is suppressed. And it’s an emotion to be overcome. It’s never an emotion to just experience. And in horror films, we give ourselves permission to do that. We all get into a room, and we know what we’ve signed up for. We go through it together, and it’s cathartic.”
On facing her fears and finding inner peace: For Nyong’o, it has been a year of both confronting her fears and, for lack of a better term, finding the peace within. “Meditation is something I’ve always been interested in. It always has felt a little mysterious and out of my reach. Right after Black Panther came out, the day after the Oscars, I went on a 10-day silent retreat.”
It was as hard as it sounds: “It was a gift. I did it for my birthday. And it was the best gift because, the thing is, my job has two main parts. There’s the acting, and there’s the celebrity. And the celebrity involves a lot of giving. After talking so much, and just expend, expending, expending, to sit with myself and just listen. Our lives are so full of distractions; you go from one distraction to another.”
On her special relationship with her feminist Father: “It makes a huge difference to have a father who champions you. My dad was a feminist before it was cool for men to be feminists—his father too in many ways.
My father’s father married my grandmother in her late teens, and he had her go to school. All his girls went to school. All my aunts are extremely educated, leaders in their fields, incredible women. And my father came from that.”
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