MEXICO CITY, November 10 (EL UNIVERSAL) .- Lupita Nyong’o, who is part of the cast of “Black Panther: Wakanda forever”, was in Mexico to present the film, the 33-year-old actress surprised by having a dance with Tenoch Huerta to the rhythm of “Suevemente”, by Elvis Crespo, but the Oscar winner for “12 years a slave” is not only giving people something to talk about because of it, but because of her true origins, is she Mexican?
Although Lupita was born in Mexico and lived for a time in this country when she was 16 years old, she has said that she does not consider herself Mexican, but Kenyan; she revealed that when she was living in Mexico she suffered from discrimination.
The fact that Lupita was born in Mexico was circumstantial, since her father, Peter Anyang Nyong’o, was for a long time an opposition politician to the regime and decided to go into exile with his entire family in Mexico.
The actress returned to the Aztec country when she was 16 years old and lived in Taxco, where she learned to speak Spanish; Despite his origins, Nyong’o does not mention Mexico when he has received some recognition, such as when he won the Oscar statuette, perhaps because his memories are not very pleasant, as he told “Elle” magazine a few years ago.
“People would stop us and take pictures of us just because we were of color and it was the time when you’re in that teenage phase trying to fit in and make your own path, that devastated me. If you turn on the TV and you don’t see yourself reflected in their shows you become invisible and it was what I saw, nothing reflected me on TV, movies or magazines. Western beauty standards affect everyone and we are in a society that does not value dark skin, ” expressed at that time.
—A Mexican touch in your home
Although Lupita Nyong’o does not have the best memories of her stay in Mexico, she has recognized her beauty on several occasions, therefore, in a conversation with EL UNIVERSAL, she said that there is a very special Mexican detail in her house.
“All my kitchen is made of talavera from different parts of Mexico and I have some from San Miguel de Allende. Mexican food is my favorite,” he confessed; In addition, on that occasion she said that she likes to vacation in this country.
“It’s where I was born and I think about Mexico a lot. It was something very vital for me; I lived here for a while when I was 16 years old. Living here without my parents opened my mind. I like to go back and vacation.”
Nyong’o is part of the second installment of “Black Panther”, which was a huge success in 2018 and had seven Oscar nominations; The second part of this story recovers the “Afro” spirit of the first, but now adds a new underwater world, Talokan, inspired by ancient Mesoamerican cultures and governed by the temperamental Namor, played by the Mexican Tenoch Huerta.
“Black Panther: Wakanda forever” includes dialogues in the Mayan language and an indigenous setting, Talokan will become a threat to the futuristic kingdom of Wakanda, embedded in the middle of the African continent.
“This script grew out of the truth in our lives that we had lost Chadwick Boseman,” said Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, a war spy and T’Challa’s lover. Nyong’o said that the characters dealt with the loss of T’Challa differently in the film.
“Personally, I was relieved that we were able to speak our truth,” Nyong’o said. “We were able to express the pain we felt and use it for good.”