Lupita Nyong’o Monecito award (2020) : USA

Reviewed by Maria Loza. Viewed at SBIFF 2020.

I luckily got to see Lupita Nyong’o receive her Montecito award at The Sant Barbara International Film Festival. She was interviewed for her spectacular performances in Us, Black Panther, 12 Years of  Slave and Queen of Katwe. She explained her rise to her career as an actress.

She explains how she was a theatre kid in high school and continued her passion through college. She even attended Yale’s drama school, which came later in her career but she felt that it would help her understand the science behind film making. She says that she truly enjoys acting and that it’s really meaningful to her. Throughout the night she was genuine in her answers and seemed very articulated. She made the night very enjoyable with her remarks and fun attitude.

There was a segment on her recent role in the film Us where she talked about how she prepared for the role red. She says that she had a speech coach. She said it took her a couple tries to perfect the voice of red. She also mentioned how it was a little difficult for her to play two characters who are actually each other and had switched places in their first encounter.

The most memorable part of the night was when her director Jordan peele came on to present the Monetcit award to her. Jordan made a remark about Lupita saying she was so honored to meet him and when he talked about a movie he wanted her to star in, she said she was incredibly nervous. Ironically, Jordan says he was nervous as well when he met her. He said he admired her so much as an actress and was hoping she’d be the star for his brilliant film Us.

Lupita and Jordan’s chemistry and attitudes really made the night so enjoyable.