Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o (LN) made Africa proud after winning an Oscar for her role in “12 Years a Slave”. New African Woman (NAW) magazine had a broad interview with the actress.
NAW: I heard that when you auditioned for this role there were apparently 1 000 people up for it. What was the audition like?
LN: Well, I was not aware there were 1 000 people up for it, thank goodness. I didn’t know that fact until we started this press tour. So thank God I had no idea.
NAW: What was the process like?
LN: I auditioned in three stages. First I put myself on tape in New York. My manager, who also manages Garret Dillahunt who is in the film too, got the script for him to consider. Then she saw the role of Patsey and thought I would be good for it so put me on tape. Then
I went to LA where I auditioned for Francine Maisler (casting director). Well, she put me through the ringer. I mean, that was a hard audition, she was like a drill sergeant. She said to me before I started, “I am going to do unconventional things, I am going to ask a lot of you, just go with the flow because this is what is needed for this character.” And so I said, “Okay”.
The scenes that I auditioned with her were the scene in which Patsey asks Platt (Chiwetel Ejiofor)to kill her, and also the soap scene. So they were really strong, high stakes scenes and it’s just very difficult to come out of traffic and go straight into a florescent lighted room and do that, it’s so difficult. And then to somehow go into the 1800s with a week’s worth of time to look at the script and try and get it, it was difficult to get there. And then, to get to that emotional place, that very vulnerable, broken place, she just really worked me.
NAW: What did you have to do?
LN: We would do the scene and then she would make me do it again, and she would hurl certain remarks at me and just get me riled up. It was hard but it was necessary because I then went to Louisiana to audition with Steve (McQueen) and that became the hardest audition I had ever been through. But with Steve, obviously, I have a very deep respect for him and his work and so to have this opportunity to audition for a man of that calibre, especially when I was fresh out of school, I was very intimidated and to do this character justice, it was a lot. So that’s how I got the role.
NAW: What was the first thing that came to mind when you got this part? What were you thinking?
LN: “Oh no, now I have to do it. (Laughs) Now I have to go there.” But getting the role of Patsey was a dream come true, and also the beginning of a nightmare to have to go to such a painful place, find such a painful place inside of myself and to allow that kind of grief into my life. I paced myself.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen on film someone who suffers so realistically. How did you do that?
If I tell you, I might have to kill you. Laughs)
NAW: How did you get into that painful place?
LN: Someone else asked me, like, is there anything in my past that might make me get there? But there’s nothing. I have never been enslaved a day in my life. I come from a middle class background, so for me that was why it was so great to have this kind of opportunity, to really flex my acting muscles and my imagination to really lend myself to it. It was also about just surrendering to the reality of this woman’s life. The fact that I was portraying someone that existed and went through that and I got to do it as a job, I got paid to do it and I also got to walk away from it, those were things that really humbled me. I think it was about just humility and truthfully believing in these circumstances that weren’t true to my personal experience but were true to this woman’s. Patsey was the hardest role I have ever played, and the most joyful.
NAW: Could you snap out of it at the end of the day’s shooting or did you get depressed?
LN: You know, I think the success is in trying to get out of it. It was very difficult for me to actually get out of it on a daily basis. I was an insomniac throughout the shooting of this film, and it was both because of the pain in which I had to remain and to allow myself to be in, but also the ecstasy of working with the people I was working with. It was always so exciting, everything was always so new, so vibrant, so yeah, it was in the trying that I succeeded every day. I had rituals to get in and out of character, and I definitely slept wounded a lot.
NAW: Did the insomnia help? Did it give you some frustration?
LN: I have never really looked at it that way; it was something that I just had to deal with. I have been trained to use where I am when I am there, and so I didn’t fight it. I just tried to deal with it on a daily basis, and perhaps it helped because I didn’t have much sleep. Maybe if I was to shoot the film again, and sleep through it, maybe I would be able to see if the insomnia helped.
NAW: What about the heat?
LN: The heat was incredible, a character of its own. I think it’s so important for us to have shot it in that condition. I remember the first day we were shooting the cotton picking scenes, I was there, in the height of noon, height of summer, picking cotton, with sweat dripping down me and so unaware if I was able to stand it for an hour, and these people would stand it for 16 hours a day.
It really sunk in, the kind of resilience the slaves had and just the strength of the people who survived it.
NAW: After the shooting every day, did you guy hang out, did you try to have a little fun?
LN: Year, shooting “12 Years a Slave” was so joyful, despite the pain that we were representing. We had so much fun doing it because we all felt the conviction, the importance of the work that we were putting on screen. We gave it our all and when we left set, we left set.
Steve said “cut”, and we cut, and we got back to our lives. I think, in a way, looking back, it was a way to honour the lives of the people who went through slavery by enjoying our freedom. And we definitely broke bread together very often. And had drinks together and enjoyed each other’s company; it definitely felt like we were in it together at the end of the day.
NAW: Has this role changed your life and who you are?
LN: I think so. One of the biggest gifts of playing Patsey was relishing the present moment, because Patsey did that and did it very well, but she was also the fastest cotton picker of the bayou, she was known as the Queen of the Field. Solomon (Northup) in his book describes her as warm-tempered and agile and all these incredible qualities, but then at the same time, she wished for her death in the moments of grief. And so for me, that was a lesson in presence, and that’s a lesson that I am taking forward.
In Kenya and the whole of Africa you are a star. It must have been a big deal to do an Oscar worthy yeah! (Laughs) it’s just been such an incredible opportunity from day one. I did not dream that the first film I would do would be so important and so magnificent. I am very fortunate.
NAW: What is in the future for you?
LN: My dream is to act some more. I hope this is the beginning of a long and diverse career.
NAW: I heard that when you auditioned for this role there were apparently 1 000 people up for it. What was the audition like?
LN: Well, I was not aware there were 1 000 people up for it, thank goodness. I didn’t know that fact until we started this press tour. So thank God I had no idea.
NAW: What was the process like?
LN: I auditioned in three stages. First I put myself on tape in New York. My manager, who also manages Garret Dillahunt who is in the film too, got the script for him to consider. Then she saw the role of Patsey and thought I would be good for it so put me on tape. Then
I went to LA where I auditioned for Francine Maisler (casting director). Well, she put me through the ringer. I mean, that was a hard audition, she was like a drill sergeant. She said to me before I started, “I am going to do unconventional things, I am going to ask a lot of you, just go with the flow because this is what is needed for this character.” And so I said, “Okay”.
The scenes that I auditioned with her were the scene in which Patsey asks Platt (Chiwetel Ejiofor)to kill her, and also the soap scene. So they were really strong, high stakes scenes and it’s just very difficult to come out of traffic and go straight into a florescent lighted room and do that, it’s so difficult. And then to somehow go into the 1800s with a week’s worth of time to look at the script and try and get it, it was difficult to get there. And then, to get to that emotional place, that very vulnerable, broken place, she just really worked me.
NAW: What did you have to do?
LN: We would do the scene and then she would make me do it again, and she would hurl certain remarks at me and just get me riled up. It was hard but it was necessary because I then went to Louisiana to audition with Steve (McQueen) and that became the hardest audition I had ever been through. But with Steve, obviously, I have a very deep respect for him and his work and so to have this opportunity to audition for a man of that calibre, especially when I was fresh out of school, I was very intimidated and to do this character justice, it was a lot. So that’s how I got the role.
NAW: What was the first thing that came to mind when you got this part? What were you thinking?
LN: “Oh no, now I have to do it. (Laughs) Now I have to go there.” But getting the role of Patsey was a dream come true, and also the beginning of a nightmare to have to go to such a painful place, find such a painful place inside of myself and to allow that kind of grief into my life. I paced myself.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen on film someone who suffers so realistically. How did you do that?
If I tell you, I might have to kill you. Laughs)
NAW: How did you get into that painful place?
LN: Someone else asked me, like, is there anything in my past that might make me get there? But there’s nothing. I have never been enslaved a day in my life. I come from a middle class background, so for me that was why it was so great to have this kind of opportunity, to really flex my acting muscles and my imagination to really lend myself to it. It was also about just surrendering to the reality of this woman’s life. The fact that I was portraying someone that existed and went through that and I got to do it as a job, I got paid to do it and I also got to walk away from it, those were things that really humbled me. I think it was about just humility and truthfully believing in these circumstances that weren’t true to my personal experience but were true to this woman’s. Patsey was the hardest role I have ever played, and the most joyful.
NAW: Could you snap out of it at the end of the day’s shooting or did you get depressed?
LN: You know, I think the success is in trying to get out of it. It was very difficult for me to actually get out of it on a daily basis. I was an insomniac throughout the shooting of this film, and it was both because of the pain in which I had to remain and to allow myself to be in, but also the ecstasy of working with the people I was working with. It was always so exciting, everything was always so new, so vibrant, so yeah, it was in the trying that I succeeded every day. I had rituals to get in and out of character, and I definitely slept wounded a lot.
NAW: Did the insomnia help? Did it give you some frustration?
LN: I have never really looked at it that way; it was something that I just had to deal with. I have been trained to use where I am when I am there, and so I didn’t fight it. I just tried to deal with it on a daily basis, and perhaps it helped because I didn’t have much sleep. Maybe if I was to shoot the film again, and sleep through it, maybe I would be able to see if the insomnia helped.
NAW: What about the heat?
LN: The heat was incredible, a character of its own. I think it’s so important for us to have shot it in that condition. I remember the first day we were shooting the cotton picking scenes, I was there, in the height of noon, height of summer, picking cotton, with sweat dripping down me and so unaware if I was able to stand it for an hour, and these people would stand it for 16 hours a day.
It really sunk in, the kind of resilience the slaves had and just the strength of the people who survived it.
NAW: After the shooting every day, did you guy hang out, did you try to have a little fun?
LN: Year, shooting “12 Years a Slave” was so joyful, despite the pain that we were representing. We had so much fun doing it because we all felt the conviction, the importance of the work that we were putting on screen. We gave it our all and when we left set, we left set.
Steve said “cut”, and we cut, and we got back to our lives. I think, in a way, looking back, it was a way to honour the lives of the people who went through slavery by enjoying our freedom. And we definitely broke bread together very often. And had drinks together and enjoyed each other’s company; it definitely felt like we were in it together at the end of the day.
NAW: Has this role changed your life and who you are?
LN: I think so. One of the biggest gifts of playing Patsey was relishing the present moment, because Patsey did that and did it very well, but she was also the fastest cotton picker of the bayou, she was known as the Queen of the Field. Solomon (Northup) in his book describes her as warm-tempered and agile and all these incredible qualities, but then at the same time, she wished for her death in the moments of grief. And so for me, that was a lesson in presence, and that’s a lesson that I am taking forward.
In Kenya and the whole of Africa you are a star. It must have been a big deal to do an Oscar worthy yeah! (Laughs) it’s just been such an incredible opportunity from day one. I did not dream that the first film I would do would be so important and so magnificent. I am very fortunate.
NAW: What is in the future for you?
LN: My dream is to act some more. I hope this is the beginning of a long and diverse career.
