Lupita Nyong'o interview

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o has become a new critics' darling after her breakout role in last year's hit movie "12 Years A Slave."

Since then, the award ceremonies and opportunities to dazzle photographers have been plentiful for Nyong'o, whose mesmerizing performance as Patsey earned her numerous accolades and recognition, including an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Though all this attention is new to Nyong'o, who was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents, the young actress seems to enjoy all the hype around her. But there is much more to her story than how she captivates the cameras on the red carpet.

Here is what she had to say about her journey from Kenya to Hollywood. 

How did you end up being born in Mexico?

Lupita Nyong'o: My father is a politician. At the time he was also a professor of political science and he was organizing for democracy in Kenya. We were under an autocratic regime and after a series of unfortunate events, including the disappearance of his brother, he went into political exile in Mexico. I was born in his last year there.

So you were born in Mexico but grew up in Kenya.

LN: Yes, all my conscious memories are in Kenya until when I was 16 my parents sent me back to Mexico to learn Spanish. I grew up in Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya, so it's hustle and bustle and there's always something going on. I come from a very big family and we're very close knit so I had lots of time with my family.

My parents raised all of us to just pursue our hearts' desires. They were like "figure out what your purpose is on this world and then do it and do it to excellence; no matter what it is, whether it's being a janitor or a doctor, as long as you're filling your life's purpose then we're good." No pressure to pursue one thing or another, although I will say my father was very upset when I dropped physics though.

Not too long after you arrived to Mexico you decided to go to school in the United States. One of the things I read about was your discovery of race in America and how it's treated.

LN: I grew up in a world where the majority of people were black so that wasn't the defining quality of anyone. When you're describing someone, you don't start out with "he's black, he's white." No, I was a girl, I was my ethnic group Luo, I was middle class, I was many things before I was black, so it was like a rearrangement when I came here and realized that in America that's the first thing that people notice about me. You don't hear that word, "black, black" very often in Kenya to tell you the truth, so that was definitely jarring.

"12 years A Slave" is your first feature film. Where do you go inside yourself to play a role like that of Patsey with such generosity of spirit?

LN: I don't believe that we are really as individual as we think we are and that's what makes the profession of acting possible -- that we can empathize with things that are more than our personal, limited experience. And I think that you do work and like Oprah [Winfrey] said to me, "you let God walk in the door." I think it's less about going into myself than opening myself; just opening myself to the research, the script, the autobiography, the other things that I read, the other things I saw and just trying to immerse myself in a world that I personally don't know -- but I know that my spirit does -- and can know if I allow myself to open up to it.

There is something about acting that's mysterious and magical because there is only so much I can do to prepare and then I have to just let go and breathe and believe that it will come through.

Because I think if I had been required to play Patsey in any sort of methodical way where I go in and I never go out until we wrap the picture, I don't think I would have survived emotionally because it's heavy. But having those moments of lightness and separation from the work we were doing on set was very important, even to fortifying our trust for each other while we were doing the work..

How do you feel about all the hype surrounding you since you since "12 Years A Slave"?

LN: I didn't know how, and we all didn't know how the world would take this film. It's not easy subject matter. It's heavy but it's beautiful and you hope that people would at least open their eyes to see it -- and then they did. So my first feeling was relief that it had been so well received and then they just kept receiving it and celebrating it and the conversation has been developing and shifting; it's been so exciting and for me to be part of that celebration and my work to be lauded in all these ways has been amazing.

And I've felt relief as well that people are registering Patsey's loftiness -- in praising me I feel like her spirit is being uplifted, really, because what I met in those pages of Solomon Northup's book was heartbreaking -- and it still breaks my heart -- and inspiring, and I had the privilege of bringing her back to life. I'm just happy and filled with gratitude to have had the experience in the first place and for it to be so well received.

Surprising Facts About Lupita Nyong’o

here are 10 things to know about the statuesque actress with a flashy smile and almost flawless fashion sense.

She straddles many worlds: Nyong'o was born in Mexico when her Kenyan parents were in political exile. Her family later returned to Kenya, where she spent most of her childhood. Her first name, she says, is the short version of the word "Guadalupe." She later went to the United States, where she got her undergraduate degree from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and later graduated from Yale School of Drama in 2012.

She has a connection to Obama: Nyong'o is a Luo, the same tribe as President Barack Obama's father.

She's multilingual: In addition to English and her native Luo, the actress speaks Spanish, Swahili and conversational Italian. 

She's been a star-crossed lover: Her first big acting break came when she was 14 and played Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" at a Kenyan theater. "That was amazing ... since before that I had been a village girl at a school show," she tells Arise Entertainment 360. "I just came to life on stage, I just loved it so much."

She's also a TV star: Before her big movie debut, Nyong'o was a regular on the Kenyan television series "Shuga." The series, produced by MTV, was a hip portrayal of contemporary Kenyan youth aimed at spreading HIV awareness. It was so popular, it later aired in various African nations.

Read: 10 must-see African movies

This is not her first brush with an international movie: As an undergraduate, Nyong'o worked on the production crew of "The Constant Gardener," starring Ralph Fiennes. The movie, filmed in Kenya, became a turning point for her. Fiennes made her realize her passion when he told her to only get into acting if she feels that she can't live without it. "It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's what I needed to hear," she says.

She's had her signature crop for years: Before settling for her trademark short hair, Nyong'o went through the usual hustles of finding a hairstyle that works for her. "I got fed up of going to the hair salon. I just wanted less time grooming so that I could get more stuff done." At age 19, she shaved off her hair. "It was so liberating," she says.

She had to go deep for her role: Nyong'o gives an emotional, raw performance in "12 Years a Slave," a movie set in the pre-Civil War United States. It's a story about Solomon Northup, a free black man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Their tyrannical master has an unhealthy obsession with Patsey, her character. Suicidal, she copes by working harder than everyone else in the cotton fields and forming a close relationship with Solomon.

She's an awards darling: Her intense role as Patsey has earned her rave reviews and a slew of nominations. They include best supporting actress for the Oscars and Golden Globes and Critics' Choice movie awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role.

Spielberg’s The Color Purple Gave Her the Acting Bug.
When she saw Whoopi Goldberg’s performance as Celie in Stephen Spielberg’s The Color Purple, Nyong’o says it was the first time she believed that she could really become an actor. For this reason, she was especially honored to join Oprah Winfrey (who also starred in the film) at The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Actress’s Roundtable.

In My Genes Is Her Award-Winning Documentary.
While in college, Nyong’o made a documentary about albinism in Kenya. She has described albinos as the one group of people that unifies all races. A friend who was having very specific experiences related to albinism inspired the project, which went on to win first prize at the 2008 Five College Film Festival.

Her Entire Family Is Kind of a Big Deal.
Nyong’o may be the Oscar nominee of the bunch, but she comes from an accomplished and fascinating bunch. Her father is a Kenyan Senator, her mother heads up the Africa Cancer Foundation and runs her own company, her cousin Isis made the Forbes list of Most Powerful African Women, and three minutes on her brother’s Instagram page tells us that he is a pop culture movement in and of himself. He’s also her biggest fan.

You've not seen the last of her: Her next movie, "Non-Stop," features Liam Neeson and comes out on February 28.