Following the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave, actress Lupita Nyong'o didn't have the urge to take on a lead role in a box office hit.
To promote her new movie, A Quiet Place: Day One, Nyong'o, 41, shared with People that following her Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress in 2014, the pressure was raised for her to be a Hollywood starlet.
"It definitely put the pressure on," she told the publication. "It was my first movie, and now I had received what is considered the pinnacle of one's achievement as an actor. ... So there I was like, 'Okay, what happens now? I can't afford to fail.'"
But the actress was nearly turned in the wrong direction when someone advised her to "seize the day and do bigger," saying that the "next thing after 12 Years of Slave needed to be a lead role in a blockbuster movie."
But to Nyong'o, her next gig "wasn't about the size of the role" but "the quality of the role."
Post-12 Years, Nyong'o had supporting roles in Non-Stop, The Jungle Book and Marvel hit Black Panther, before taking lead roles in Little Monsters and Us, both released in 2019. But it was a 2016 role in Broadway production Eclipsed that earned Nyong'o a Tony nomination.
"I listened to my intuition," she said about the play. "I went back to the theater and I did a play on Broadway, which really did save me from imposter syndrome and just the fear of failure."
Next, Nyong'o wants to try her hand at a romantic comedy, a genre she hasn't fully tackled due to "being known for dramatic roles."
"I love depth. I'm not saying I don't want depth. But darkness and drama, I get that a lot," she said.
"I am always trying to choose roles that I haven't played before, roles that will stretch me," she continued. "I think comedy is very scary. It's very hard to achieve, and I want to try my hand at it more."
