Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Lupita Nyong'o

Episode Date: March 24, 2019

In Jordan Peele’s highly-anticipated new horror film “Us,” Lupita Nyong’o plays both the hero and the monster. It’s a new genre for the 36-year-old actress who starred in last year’s cultural phenomenon “Black Panther” and won an Academy Award in 2014 for her performance in “12 Years a Slave.” In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Nyong’o about her journey from Kenya to Yale Drama School to the Oscars stage, and the whirlwind 6 years she’s had since then.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along this week. All right. Has anybody seen the movie Us yet? The new Jordan Peel movie has follow up to get out. Ooh, man, it is nuts. And the star is Lupita Nyango. Of course, the Academy Award winning actress. You're about to hear some deep stuff. A good conversation with her. This movie, I had just seen it before I sat down with her. I watched it alone in my apartment. apartment, which it turns out was a mistake. And then I had to sit down across from her after seeing her. If you've seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Looking into those eyes, I have to say, she made it easy very quickly. She was Lupito Niyango and not read the character in that movie. It is the movie everybody's talking about right now. If you saw Get Out, you realize that he took horror films to a different place. Yes, they were scary, but they're also great movies that said something about our culture. He does it again with this one in us. Great cast. Great movie.

Lupita plays both the hero and the monster without getting it too deep into it in case you haven't seen it. Basically, this family meets their doppelgangers, and I will leave it at that. We also talk about her crazy journey. She was born in Mexico, raised in Nairobi, Kenya, went to college in the United States, became a production assistant on movies because she thought that might interest her, went to Yale Drama School, and while she's still in Yale Drama School, A couple of weeks from graduating, she gets a phone call and says, We'd like you to play the part of Patsy in 12 years a slave.

Her first movie role. That's her first movie role, and she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. How's that for a journey? Then she did a bunch of Star Wars movies, a voice only there. But then, of course, last year's Black Panther, the cultural phenomenon. Lupita and I got together in New York this week ahead of the release of us. She was fresh off a plane from Berlin on yet another whirlwind tour in what's been a whirlwind five, six years for one of our best actors.

I hope you enjoy my conversation, a Sunday sit down right now with Academy Award winner, Lupita Nyungo. Lupita, thank you so much for doing this. Oh, thanks for having me. I was just saying to you, it's a little strange for me because I just finished watching the movie about an hour ago. And now I was supposed to sit across from you and pretend that this is normal. I have a vision of you that doesn't match what I see right now. Well, I'll try and be as far away from that as possible. Okay, good, good.

It was an amazing, amazing film. What was Jordan's pitch to you initially? Obviously, you'd seen Get Out, what he was up to generally. But what did he say to you about this film? Well, he didn't say anything, really. He just sent the script, the official way. I got it from my agents, and I read it immediately. And I was stunned by how intense it was to read.

I'd never read a horror film before. But he really did write something that was, uncomfortable even to read. And I could tell when I read it that there was more than at the eye, you know, that at the surface, this is a monster story and invasion horror film,

but it just went so much deeper than that. And so I needed to get on the phone with him immediately and start to talk to him about it. And yeah, and then he's, we went deep real quick, and I was writing all the notes I could to try and keep up, you know, because, yeah, his films definitely say more than just one thing.

And you're also reading that script, realizing you're going to be playing two parts. Yes. Two parts that are extraordinarily different from one another in the way they behave, obviously. Was that a big challenge for you as you looked at it at first? Like, can I pull this off? It was, of course, one of the things that attracted me to this project because it was offering me an opportunity like none other I've ever had, but also the challenge. You know, these characters, not only are they two, but they are on an opportunity.

opposite ends of a very taught argument, you know, and they see the world completely differently, you know. So as an actor, I'm used to advocating for one perspective, but in this case, I had to advocate for two, and be both advocate and judge of each character. So that offered its own challenge, and the physicality had to be very specific, and the emotionality and psychology of each character. So it took kind of like a mathematical precision in my preparation, which is usually a whole lot more chaotic. Right, I'm sure. Just as a practical matter, how did you pull it off? I'm thinking about like the living room scene when we first meet the tethered.

And they come in and I see you as the mother and then I see you as her doppelganger. How do you do that? How do you shoot the scenes? It was very, very technical. It took having great stand-ins, first of all, for eyelines. And then also sometimes it would be my stand-in. And sometimes it would be just like a green dot on a pole or something that we were responding to. Is that hard talking to a green dot?

Oh, yeah. It's very tough. I mean, it's imaginative gymnastics, you know, because, you know, one of the reasons why I wanted to make a horror film was to see whether it was actually scary to do so. But of course, in this one, we are the monsters. Right. So it was very not scary to make it and was quite just technically challenging to do that. Oftentimes, when I was acting opposite myself, Jordan would actually take on my lines of the other character, and he would do it on the mic for me because I don't like to see playback.

There was always an option of watching the playback from the performance the day before, but I didn't like that. So he would perform my character, which was very interesting. Jordan is quite the mimic, as we know, quite the impressionist. And I thought it would be funny, and I was worried about that. But he grounded it. He really just gave it his own interpretation. And it was very, very helpful to have that kind of talented director. I'm sure.

I guess one of the things Jordan promised you when he called you at first said, we're going to have a good time. It's going to be a great film, but you're going to be tired. You're going to be working hard with these two characters. Did he deliver on that? Oh, yes, he did. I mean, as I was preparing for it, as soon as we started, I had another project lined up for like two weeks after I finished us.

Wow. And I had to bow out because I could tell. I could tell this was just going to be insane, you know. And it was truly exhausting because I would be working on one character one day and then have to switch to the other, the next. And, you know, it was physically challenging, vocally challenging, emotionally challenging. So I found myself between taking naps because that was the only way for me to catch up on my rest and keep my focus, you know, the energy.

I had to spend it all just like working on this film. Is it also emotionally draining to be a character who's in so much distress throughout the entire film? Oh, my goodness. It is so emotionally draining. You know, both of them offered their own special kind of stress, you know. For Adelaide, I had to sustain fear for long periods of time. and the body is not accustomed to that.

You know, adrenaline is something that is spreaded out and then it dissipates. You know, you're not supposed to be in a state of shock for the whole day. So I had to develop different, you know, tricks and games to get myself to that kind of state of high intensity and fear. And that is exhausting, you know, because all your muscles are involved in that. And then for Red, you know, physically, Jordan has... had described her as being both queen and cockroach. So that spoke to me of a stillness, you know, a regality, but also just the surprise and the skitter of a cockroach.

Very weird. I never know where they're going to dart to. And so that was his own kind of special thing. But her voice, you know, Red's voice was, I did not choose an easy voice to go with, though it was very rewarding to do. So was that your choice, that voice? Did you go through a few different options? I did.

Yeah, so the inspiration was a line in the script that said that she hadn't used her voice for a long time. And I built from that. I was really inspired by that. What would that sound like if you hadn't used your voice? And I came across a condition known as spasmodic dysphonia, which is one that it's a condition where your vocal cords involuntarily spasm, creating an irregular pattern of air. And it's caused by trauma, sometimes physical, sometimes emotional,

sometimes just inexplicable. And it results in this physical condition. And I was really inspired by it. And so I happened to have an E&T who specializes in this condition. And I met people with spasmodic dysphonia, interviewed them, and then started working on it with a vocal therapist. to make sure that I could do it and do it safely because, you know, emulating that kind of thing

is quite dangerous for the throat. And I couldn't afford to hurt myself, not because, one, because I want my voice for the rest of my life, but also because the other role did not require it. So, yeah. That's the thing, you're in almost every scene one way or another between the two characters.

Yeah. No plays off for you. Oh, no. No. As soon, you know, it was funny because my call, my schedule was in two colors. I had two highlighters to show who was working when. And sometimes I get really excited to see that the yellow was over and then realize there was just a whole lot of green.

No rest for the weary. No rest at all. You started to answer one of the questions I've always want to ask someone in a horror film, which is, is it actually scary to be in a horror movie? Because I would think it's scary for us, obviously, to see it, but there are lights and cameras and someone's saying action and cut and all those. It takes some of the intensity out of it maybe. Is there any scariness to being in the scene yourself? Well, my experience was no, because I was the thing that I wasn't afraid of. So I didn't have another human being that was being, you know, sinister and trying to scare me on purpose,

whose job it was to scare me. But I will say that Jordan Peel once went out of his way to scare me. What did he do? I was doing a scene where I was going through a maze of some type, and he waited. He lay in waiting at the end of that maze and jumped out at me. That's just wrong. And then he swore he'd never do it again. Was it in that house of mirrors?

Uh-huh. I know what you're talking about. So if I asked you what is the genius of Jordan Peel and why these movies are not just scary, but they're good films between Get Out and us. What do you say to that? What is the genius of Jordan Peel? Well, I think Jordan. has been in incubation for his whole life, you know, watching film, especially horror film,

fanaticizing over it, geeking out over it. And he brings that enthusiasm, that wealth of knowledge to the films that he makes. And he is led by a very keen interest in eye in society and human dynamics. And he's able to bring that interest into his love for horror. film and he fuses those two things together and then of course he's such a gifted comedian and he see i think he treads that line you know that very thin line between comedy and tragedy uh and he puts them into these horror films and he's using the genre in such an interesting way you know totally inviting a whole new demographic into the genre including me i mean i had

retired for more films like 20 years ago when i realized i didn't have to suffer suffer. Right. Why am I doing this to myself? Why? There's enough things to run away from. Right. But he's opened it up.

He's really opened up the genre and showed us how relevant it can be in our reflection of our life, you know? Yeah. And he's doing so with swag, you know? Yes, he is. Yes, he is. I mean, the scene, oh, I guess I don't want to give away too much, but we'll just talk about it, the scene when Elizabeth Moss

calls for the police on the Alexa and NW.B. That's a little Jordan Tuck, I suspect. Yeah, he's just got that flair. He really does. You mentioned it that his movies make some commentary on where we are as a society and a culture. If Get Out was about race and wealth and privilege and those things, what is this movie trying to say about our society and our culture? Well, I think it's a movie that explores the monster within ourselves.

I think right now we're at a time, and Jordan says this quite eloquently, that there's a lot of finger pointing to the other. You know, there's a lot of blame from the other country, the other culture, the other ethnicity, religion, political faction, the other gender. And in doing so, we fail to recognize ourselves and what is the monster in the mirror, you know, and what are the ways in which we are, projecting the destruction that we're so afraid of in the world. There's a role to be played by each and every single one of us, and I think this film just externalizes that monster and has it coming for us. Speaking of looking in the mirror, is it true

that you, for a while, were scared to look in the mirror after doing this movie? Well, I was definitely... I was troubled by my own reflection. In real life, we're talking. Well, yeah, but not like I couldn't look at myself in the mirror because, I mean, I look at myself in the mirror, but I lived in a house that wasn't mine while I was making this film. I don't live in L.A. I live in New York, and so I had to rent a place out there. And the house I rented had all these mirrors in strange places that I wasn't used to.

So I would come upon my reflection where I wasn't expecting to and freak out. I mean, I had so many freak out. And yeah, it's unnerving to see yourself when you don't expect to see yourself, especially when you're making a film like this. That is about that. So I definitely had just a sensitivity to my reflection. But you're okay brushing your teeth in the mirror. We're all good on that. No, I can do that.

That's fine. And then what about the homework that Jordan gave you before the movie? He gave you a list, I guess, of horror films. Did you have any favorites in there or ones that you didn't know before he handed out assignment? Well, I had only seen the shining on the list that he gave me. And they were, they ranged in intensities. He started with the mildest one, you know, dead again. And then it just got harder and just darker. And the last one was martyrs. And his, his note to that was enter at your own risk. So I saved that one for last. And shortly before I watched it,

he said, you know what, Lipita, don't watch it. don't watch it. And then I was like, well, now Jordan, you've made it a challenge. And I'm going to have to do it. And I did it. How'd you do it? And I wept. Yeah.

I was fine throughout the film, and I never did my homework on my own. I have a lot of friends that I owe a lot of favors. But when it was over and my friend was leaving, I just couldn't take the thought of being alone after that. It was just, I and I wept. It was shattering. That movie just messed me up. I don't recommend it.

I was going to say, I haven't seen that one yet. Should I pass on it? Maybe pass, maybe pass, you know. Yeah, or wait for like a rageful fit or something. Oh, okay. It might make your heart a little softer. So he gave you an order to watch them in, and he knew he was going to hit you with the martyr last.

Yes. And really get you. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't know whether it's a favorite, but I will say that I recognized the might in the genre of war after seeing that film. Now, how do you feel now, Lupta, knowing that movie will be to some people, us will be that to them, if that makes any sense? Now people will watch your film, like, whoa, that thing knocked me out.

I had my friend sleep over. I don't want to be alone, all those things. It's so flattering when I hear that. And I love the idea of scaring people. I'm not so into being scared, but I love it. I love the idea of scaring people. There's something just like... Well, you did it.

Congratulations. Thank you. We were talking a minute ago about where you were a year ago at this time in the middle of the Black Panther phenomenon. When you look back on that, what was it like to be at the center of not just a successful movie,

it's the ninth highest grossing movie in the history of films, but such a culturally important film as well? You know, it's still really hard to fully wrap my head around what that film has done, what it is achieved in the way in which it has

really lodged itself in people's hearts and lives. It's still ticklish and news to just at random hear someone use a reference from the film like, oh, look at those Mbaku shoes or something, you know?

It's odd and delightful. And obviously I feel so proud to be a part of a film like that, you know, just to have one in my career is, in any actor's career is, you know, a film that kind of like shifts the needle or, you know, that's the dream, you know, to make work that resonates that lives longer than you do. And it seems like that's what we have with Black Panther. I told you, I interviewed Chadwick a year ago right now, and he was in the middle of it. Yeah. And he just sat down the chair and exhaled. coming from Korea, is like, bro, this is going so fast.

Yeah. What was it like to be in the middle of that crazy storm at the time? It was insane. It was insane and beautiful. But you know, what made it the coolest was the cast. And the group, the creative people that came together to make this film and then to promote it made it just so memorable. I mean, so it's precious professionally, but it's also precious to me personally. because those trips, you know, you're traveling the world, you're going from here to there,

you're taking private jets, whatnot, but you're having fun because of the group you're with, and we're all enjoying it. We'd all look at each other and be like, can you believe it? This is happening. Yeah, so it just, it was a great time. It felt like a very long school trip, you know, very long and very, very fabulous school trip. School trip on private jets. Yeah, you know. Different than most school trips. Yeah, you know, BP school. Were you aware at the time, Lupita, that you were making something culturally significant as well? In other words, that there were millions of kids around the world who for the first time were seeing people like them as superheroes. A hundred percent.

I was aware of that when we were shooting it, you know? When I read it, when Ryan talked to me about it, I was aware. Because it was the kind of film that I just never heard anyone pitch to me. And then the fact that it was on the Marvel platform meant that there were going to be lots of eyes on it and that it would have, you know, long, long, long arms. And so to be a part of something like that that really just represents a progressive, you know, cultural experience as it did, it's what my dreams are. made of, you know. And, you know, there have been so many superheroes and all that. There's this one African one that Africans and black people all around the world get to identify with, but then that everybody else gets to see themselves in. I mean, that's what cultural exchange is about,

you know, that you can see yourself in people that do not look like you. Yeah, and that's really powerful to have the pendulum swing in the opposite direction. Yeah, you guys did such a good job with that. It's amazing to me. I was looking at your list of movies because you're such an established star and it feels like you've been around for a long time, that 12 years of slave came out less than six years ago, which is astonishing to me. And you made the jump into that movie from the Yale School of Drama. I mean, what was that phone call like?

You're probably trying to figure out your life. What's my first gig? How am I going to get a part on? stage or whatever it is and here comes Hollywood. I know, yeah. It was bizarre. I mean, I booked the job before I graduated. So the period that I was preoccupied about what was going to happen after was very, very short. But I remember just, I went through a very extensive audition process.

So it wasn't just, you know, one and done. But I remember the call with Steve McQueen when he said, I would like to offer you the part of Patsy. I remember that call like it was yesterday. And just, I just sat on the tarmac. I was outside. I sat on the tarmac and I said, I'd like to accept the bar to Patsi. And it was just unbelievable.

And, you know, it definitely, obviously, was encouraging because it meant that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, you know? And I still feel that way. I feel very lucky to be able to kind of live on purpose. Yeah. And from that phone call on the tarmac, you're just excited to be in a big movie like that, I'm sure. And then all of a sudden, the movie does well, you're getting nominated for awards, and you win the Oscar. What was that whirlwind like for you to go from Yale School of Drama to Oscar winner in a very brief period of time? It was a doozy. It was insane. It was overwhelming. It was exciting. It was scary. It was everything. But the key things for me while I was doing that was to meditate, contemplate, making room for success. Because that's one thing that you don't get trained to do, like in drama school.

They're not saying, they're not preparing you for success. They're preparing you to contend with failure. They're preparing you for resilience and, you know what I mean? Just like staying power, staying power. They're preparing you to make the most out of the little bits you might get on TV because they understand that the journey can be long and that you have to find joy and fulfillment every step of the way. So that was the journey I was expecting. And then, you know, the flood gates opened and everything was coming in my way. And it would have been so easy for me to buckle and panic and just unravel under the weight of excessive.

favor. So I was aware and I had family with me and friends that have known me forever who really just shrouded me and and and and just kept me warm and safe and focused on making room for success, making room for bounty, you know, because that's quite hard to accept. It's just, I don't know why it's so hard to accept. No, sure. I get it. Um, but yeah. So, for me that was it. It was at every stage, say yes. Say yes, say yes, say yes. And don't, not, not, no, nose might come, but the important thing was to make space for yes. And so when it all was said and done, uh, I, I felt, I felt blessed that I made it without a nervous breakdown by the hairs of my chiny chin and, um, and then it was about figuring out what my life was going to

mean after that, you know, because a pinnacle like that usually comes at the height of someone's career, you know, and here it was coming at the start for me. So what was success looked like moving forward? And then I had to really give myself room for failure, you know, that, you know, it's one thing to attain that success, that pinnacle, it's something else to try and sustain it, you know. The idea was to make sure that I wasn't trying to win an academy award every time I took on a job. But to kind of recommit to the thing that I loved most, which was the process of acting. What about the fame side of it? How do you, at such a young age, having never really contended with it, because you just haven't been in the spotlight yet,

all of a sudden you're on the cover of every magazine, everybody wants to interview you, everyone knows your name and face when you walk through an airport. How do you keep some normalcy at the middle of that when it happens so quickly? That also has been work in progress. But I think I had a little bit of a head start having a father who's famous, in as much as he's famous in the context of my country. But I grew up with a father

who had a public persona and a private self. And I watched both things happen in tandem. I watched what was written about him on the cover, you know, on the front page of the newspaper. And I watched the man who walked in the door. and his feet were sore and he just wanted a massage. You know, so I was very aware of having, being able to live in two spaces at once

and making sure to preserve my private space. So that's always been important to me. And obviously I had to figure out what my public persona was going to be. And the thing about a public persona is that you are not the only author of it. You know, it's also about what people make of you and accepting that for what it is.

But definitely it was about just preserving my privacy, my intimate group, and making sure that I didn't lose track of the people who know me without the front pages, without the covers of the magazines. It sounds like you have wonderful parents. I really do. Who instilled some good things in you that have really paid off on this rise of yours. No, I really do. I have exceptional parents.

If I can be half the mother, my mother is, I'll be good. What was your childhood like in Kenya? Obviously, you pointed out that your father was a prominent member of the society there. But he also was a dissident, and that wasn't always easy, I imagine. No, it wasn't. For you as well. No, yeah. It wasn't easy, but it was my normal.

You know, I was born into it, so I didn't know any different. My parents definitely try to do the best to shield us from the chaos and the violence and things that were going on around us. Because shielding us was protecting us from harm, you know, from the chance that someone might kidnap us for information that we didn't have, you know. So, yeah, it wasn't easy, but it was just normal. And the one thing I definitely feel I picked up from that is like standing up for what you believe in. My dad did that. He did it. He put his life on the line to do it.

My mom does it all the time. And living for more than just yourself, I guess is another lesson that I learned from them that is just very much part of my psyche. I love what you've said too. They told you can do anything you want to do, be anything you want to be. there was no, you're a little girl and he's a little boy. It sounds like they just said, go, chase it. Yeah, they definitely, yeah, they definitely didn't set us up with limitations. I definitely got the impression that, oh, the conditioning, that limitations will come from outside.

Don't bring them in yourself. You know, don't have them for yourself because limitations are things that you have to overcome, you know. And yeah, they didn't, they raised us to think outside the box, you know, and build, maybe build your own box. Right. I'd say you've done that pretty successfully. So when does the acting come in then? At what point in your life do you say, oh, maybe the stage or the screen is a place for me? Well, I always was acting. I was acting since when I was five.

A little performer were you? Oh, yeah, I was a little performer. My mom tells me that when I was like, three, I would make up these stories about what school I went to and what my uniform looked like and what I'd had for lunch and I hadn't been a day to school. So I always had a very wild imagination and I was always very spacey and, you know, I would be daydreaming. I was the child that daydreaming at the dining room table and being told, hey, space cadet, come back, come back to Earth, you know. And so they encouraged it. My father used to act when he was in school and my mother's sister is an actor and everything.

So they encouraged me to express that side of myself. I just didn't come from a society where there was many professional actors. So the idea of being a professional actor wasn't something that I really allowed myself to have, you know, so deep down I wanted to be an actor, but I was too, I was too insecure to say it out loud, you know. And it wasn't until a friend of mine that I had been in a play with when I was 14, he got into the Yale School of Drama. And that's what opened my mind to that being a possibility for me.

Because here he was, he was a Kenyan, and he got into a drama school of, of, of, you know, repute, like the Yale School of Drama. I didn't even know there were drama schools at Ivy League's doing acting, you know. And so he opened my mind to that. And that's why I think it's so important to show people what's possible. You know, you cannot be what you cannot see, you know. And I saw him do that. And that's when that started to become a little more of a possibility for me,

a little more, you know, graspable. And is that what led you to go to Hampshire, college to go to America and start that? No, no, I was already there. Okay, we're already there when you saw that. I was already there, yeah. No, my father went to school in the U.S. He went to the University of Chicago. So, uh, the idea of coming to school here was very much just, it's what you did. Yeah, it's just what you did. And yeah, so that was, that was a big leap, though, right, from Kenya to the woods of Massachusetts. Well, I had a little detour when I went to live in Mexico. Right. Right. Right. Right. I had a good share of culture.

shock. But yeah, it was definitely a very different environment. And then what's the story about you coming, you came back home and you were working on the set of the Constant Gardner? Yeah, that's while I was at Hampshire College. Right. And so what happened there? Because that feels like another moment that sparked something in you. Yeah, so I was at Hampshire College and I was my, you know, at Hampshire, you design your own major. There's no, there's no set majors. You create your own. So I was doing African studies and film. And over the summer, I went home. And I went home. And I was, you know, home to visit my family. And the very next day that I landed, I saw the, the, what do you go? The set. Yeah. Thank you. That's what it's called. Chat lag. The set of the constant

gardener in my neighborhood. And so I did some recon. I found someone who knew someone who was working on it. And I went and I was just like, I just want to do anything to just get exposure to this world. Because at that time I was thinking, maybe I'll do something behind the camera that sounds a little bit more serious and real than acting. And so I got a job as a production assistant. And my job was to look after all the lead actors, including Ray Fines, and get him his coffee just like he liked it. And one lunchtime I was sitting with him and just talking and he asked me what I wanted to do. to do with my life. That was like the first time when I kind of said very shyly, I was like, I think I might want to be an actor. And he took a deep sigh and said, you know what, Lafita,

if there's anything else you want to do that instead. Only act if you feel like you can't live without it. Wow. It wasn't what I wanted to hear. Right. But it was real. That was a very sobering piece of advice, you know, because he went on to explain, you know, how hard it can be, especially on women and stuff like that. And it took me about four years after that to finally really take stock of myself and recognize that, yeah, I don't, I will,

I would be, I would regret it if I didn't try. And that's when I decided to apply to schools and try, take my shot. Did you hear from him by any chance after you were standing on the stage holding that Oscar? You know, he was actually, at the screening of the very first screening of 12 years of slave at telluride. He happened to be there.

Wow. And so I didn't know he was in the audience. I ran into him the next day. And I went up to him and I said, Raif, hi, do you remember me? And he went, oh my God, Levita, is that you? That's a good, Ray Fides. Probably not the right British accent, but I tried. And he did remember? Did he remember the moment? remember my name. I think I'm adding a little bit of salt in that. But yeah, yeah, I know, but he definitely said, is that you? And I said, yes, it is. Remember, I got your coffee for a while there? Well, he must have been very proud. He was very proud. He was. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Lupita, including what's next on the horizon

and why she approaches her acting career like her meals. Hmm. Welcome back. Now, for more of my Sunday sit-down conversation with Lupita Nyango. So you've done, obviously, you've won an Oscar for 12 years of slave. You've shown big budget, Star Wars and Black Panther, and now you've done horror. Do you think about sort of steps in your career? Are there other things you want to do that you haven't done yet? I'm sure there are. But are you a planner? Like, okay, I've done this. Now I need to go do that. Or do you just sort of take the scripts as they come and try to work with good people, which seems to be what a lot of actors I speak to do. I think I may approach my acting career

a little bit how I approach my meals, you know, where I'm like, I have a hankering for something, you know, and oftentimes what I want to do next is affected by what I just did, you know? So, because I feel like I don't have a finite well of creativity, an infinite well, sorry. I don't have an infinite well of creativity.

It's quite finite. And so I need to kind of replenish my energies when I do something, you know. So I try not to do the same thing over and over again. I also just, I delight in variety. And so, and I want to try my hand at different things. Horror was definitely one of them, comedy too. And I just did my first horror and my first comedy. So I kind of put it out there.

I visualize and I kind of dream out loud. And then, you know, I really believe in attracting the thing that you speak, you know, the power of attraction. The law of attraction, they call it. Put it in the atmosphere. Yeah, yeah. Let the universe know. Right. And so I do that.

And then hopefully the right thing comes along. So what are you hungry for right now? What are you going to put into the atmosphere? I want to go back to drama. I want to go back to drama. I haven't done one of those in a while. You know, something juicy and, and, yeah, just gritty. You've got a good one coming up with Trevor Noah's book, Born a Crime Soon.

Yes, yes. That's a good place to start. Yeah, that's a very good place. And I'm also doing, I also want to do an action thriller. I'm doing one of those with Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Bing Wing Fan so that's coming up next it's called 355

you're checking all the boxes all the genres taken care of yeah man now one question I have to ask you before I let you go or else the internet will never forgive me oh what when you and Rihanna floated that series

because you sat next to each other at a show or something is there going to be a Lupita Rihanna series is there oh is there I don't know I'm asking the questions around here.

I'll just leave it rhetorical for now. Really? But it's possible. Anything's possible. Okay. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure.

Thank you. That was great. My thanks to Lupita Nyongo for spending some time with me during her busy press tour and catch her latest movie Us in theaters now. My thanks as always to all of you for tuning in this week to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. To hear more of our full-length conversations with all my guest, be sure to click and subscribe and listen for free every single week. And of course, don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you

right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.