*Lupita Nyong’o is on the cover of the October issue of Vanity Fair and she’s sharing her thoughts as to why “Black Panther” was able to achieve monumental success.
The blockbuster project which went on to bring in $1.347 billion worldwide was successful in her opinion because it avoided using “the struggle through having dark skin” as “clickbait.”
“In ‘Black Panther, ‘I felt that the African experience was allowed to exist aspirationally,” Nyong’o told Vanity Fair. “I think it’s more common in America to hear of the struggle of black people than it is to hear of the success. It’s more of a sensation to have a headline about a struggle, you know? The struggle through having dark skin is clickbait. So when ‘Black Panther’ came along … it was so refreshing to work on an African narrative that did not lead with the struggle of being African.”
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Nyong’o also makes another point. She says she bought into the project simply because director Ryan Coogler’s p[ith to her won her over. It wasn’t the script because one didn’t exist at the time. says she signed on to the project on the strength of Coogler’s pitch alone. She also notes that Coogler and his writing/producing partner, Robert Joe Robert Cole wrote the film while Barack Obama was still president, it came out one year into Donald Trump’s presidency.
“Ryan was speaking to a future relevance that he could not have predicted,” the Academy Award winner told Vanity Fair.
Nyong’o broke down what made her take the role … based just on Coogler’s pitch alone — and why she takes any role.
“As I prepare, I have to articulate to myself why I’m doing this,” Nyong’o said. “The secondary thing is definitely the people. When I choose projects, I want to have faith that as an artist it will speak to a time when it is needed as much as it speaks to me at the time that I make it. I really understood this with ‘Black Panther,’ when we were making that movie in such a different political climate than the one in which it came.”
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But wait, there’s more.
Nyong’o is loving the new idea of intimacy coaches on sets during love scenes. In the Vanity Fair article, she says it will help actors feel comfortable during sex scenes.
“I’m quite happy that there is that kind of extreme change, and hopefully we find equilibrium as we move forward,” the 36-year-old explained.
Nyong’o says intimacy coaches are now more commonplace on movie sets.
“In the past, when it came to physical combat, there were always consultants on set, but when it came to intimacy there was never, ever somebody present to help actors navigate that,” she adds. “Now you have that, which I think is a great inclusion, and ensures that those kinds of abuses don’t happen.”
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