Lupita Nyong'o Responds to Agent Who Said She'd Be Typecast for Being Black

The world has seen "12 Years a Slave" breakout star Lupita Nyong'o's talent make a run in such flicks as "Queen of Katwe," "Black Panther," "Americanah," and blockbuster hit "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." She's even made her presence felt on Broadway, where her show "Eclipsed," which garnered 6 Tony Award nominations in 2016. But there was a time when the 33-year-old Mexico-born Kenyan actress faced doubt within the industry, as to whether her prowess as a thespian could transcend the roles people of her skin color are typically relegated to in Hollywood. In an exclusive being published in the publication's October edition, the Vogue cover-girl quieted those voices, in hindsight of her success.

"I cannot run away from who I am and my complexion or the larger society, and how they may view that," she told Vogue. At one point in the interview, she exposed one industry insider who predicted she'd be typecast, making reference to remarks once made by talent agent Tracy Christian, saying, "I have to deafen my ears to that Christian lady." In a 2014 Hollywood Reporter story in which she questioned whether Beyonce would be as big as she is were she not a light-skinned woman, Christian projected that it is unlikely for someone like Nyong'o to be embraced beyond a niche audience, because of how dark she is. “She is looking at me as part of the cultural tapestry,” Nyong’o said, before explaining how she'd be holding herself back by succumbing to such line of thinking. “I am living and breathing. That person is not considering what I had for breakfast, how that is sitting in my stomach, and why I didn’t do well with that audition. I can’t think like that.”

Lupita went on to share how her experience growing up in the skin of otherness, was indeed one she had to confront, with European standards of beauty being imposed upon her by the media and peers, all her life. She identified Sudanese model Alek Wek as someone who opened the door for her to come along after, and would note how proud she is to have been confided in some of her contemporaries who look up to her the same. "I’ve never had so many people call me beautiful until you showed up. I get called to auditions I never would have been called to before. And I know it’s because you exist.”

Source: bossip.com