Why I Adore: Lupita Nyong'o

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re going to look at people that I absolutely adore and why I adore them. They can be anyone who is famous for being in film such as: actors and actresses, directors and producers, composers etc. We’re going to be looking at my childhood heroes, people I have discovered recently and people that I have yet to look entirely into. We’ll take a bit of a look at how I discovered them, what I think of them and why I think this way about them. Hopefully, we can gain a common ground, you can discover some new people or, via the email address in my bio, you can email me with any new people I don’t know about that you think I would like based on what you’ve seen. These are supposed to be positive articles and made to brighten your day and mine. So, let’s take a wild ride into my childhood, my teen years and what I absolutely adore about the film industry because it is alive and kicking (and if it isn’t, hell I might be out of a job…). Let’s go!

Lupita Nyong'o

It is a strange story of how exactly I discovered the grand talent and range of Lupita Nyong'o. She is an inspiration in every way being both down to earth and greatly intelligent in her field. The very first film I ever saw her in was "12 Years a Slave" and I would only learn later on that it was only her second feature film ever. I couldn't believe it - it was like she knew exactly what she was doing all the time. I had never seen such confidence from someone who was still at the very beginnings of their expanding career and it was like Lupita Nyong'o was an instant sensation. After this, I had to sit back and wait for the rest of her filmography to unfold in the coming years after "12 Years a Slave" and, with the upcoming Star Wars Trilogy I knew I would not have to wait very long.

With her roles in "Black Panther" and more recently, Jordan Peele's "Us", Lupita Nyong'o has really solidified her place in acting royalty. Her ability to manipulate herself into any role to fit any genre and to be able to even play two entirely different characters at once is incredible. I mean, if you watch her speech from "Us" as Red when she talks about 'the shadow', it is bloody brilliant and absolutely terrifying at the same time.

Lupita Nyong'o never fails to inspire me. She makes me very happy because she shows a great amount of knowledge when it comes to acting. It is not like she just does the best with what she has, instead she actively seeks to improve herself with each and every role. With every film she seems to get better and better and more confident in her own skills and this is definitely not only an inspiration but it is a great thing to see from one of your favourite actresses. She has so far done films of the genre of drama, historical, horror, comic-book and she's even worked behind the scenes on many films.

For "12 Years a Slave" Lupita Nyong'o won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. I say it again: it was her second film. She had only done one film before that and it was a short feature. Though she had done production work before that, she had only acted in a film once before she won the Academy Award and so, it's very inspiring to see her hard work, knowledge and growth paying off.

Even though she's only been in film for less than ten years, I want to say that I hope Lupita Nyong'o expands into other realms of film, maybe she'll be in a Spike Lee film or maybe even a Christopher Nolan, a Brian de Palma or an Oliver Stone. You really never know what the future holds, especially when you've got a talent like Lupita Nyong'o has. I just hope that she wins more awards that recognise her incredible talent on screen and her incredible amount of range when it comes to characterisation and being able to carry the whole movie.

Join me next time for "Why I Adore: Ben Whishaw..."