Lupita Nyong’o said that after she won the Oscar for her role as a slave in “12 Years A Slave,” Hollywood didn’t suddenly open up with diverse lead roles; it funneled her into more depictions of Black suffering. In a recent CNN “Inside Africa” interview with musician Angélique Kidjo, Nyong’o recalled that instead of the range she expected, she was repeatedly offered scripts that reduced Black women to pain and bondage.

“After I won that Academy Award, you'd think, 'I'm gonna get lead roles here and there,'” Nyong’o said, then described the kinds of offers she actually received: “[They're like], 'Oh, Lupita, we'd like you to play another movie where you're a slave, but this time you're on a slave ship.' Those are the kind of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.” 

She pushed back on the industry’s lazy casting and the commentary that tried to reduce her to a cultural footnote. “There were think pieces of 'Is this the beginning and end of this dark-skinned Black African woman's career?' I had to deafen myself to all these pontificators because, at the end of the day, I'm not a theory. I'm an actual person,” Nyong’o said, stressing that she refused jobs that kept African women boxed into pain.

Nyong’o saw this as a responsibility. “If that means I work one job less a year to ensure that I'm not perpetuating the stereotypes that are expected of people from my continent, then let me do that,” she said, adding that she wants her work to shift global perceptions of Africa and African women. She described herself as a “joyful warrior” pushing for change, a description that captures both defiance and a desire for richer storytelling. 

Nyong’o’s experience is one that many Black women in Hollywood face. Award recognition does not automatically translate into breadth of opportunity, especially for Black actresses, particularly those like Nyong’o who are dark-skinned or African-born. 

Fans and critics have praised Nyong’o for naming that pattern publicly and for choosing roles that protect her craft and identity rather than chasing “easy” parts. It’s very apparent that representation still has a long way to go.