Lupita Nyong’o Says She Was Offered ‘Another Movie Where You’re a Slave’ After Winning Oscar for 12 Years a Slave

Lupita Nyong’o is opening up about the kinds of roles she received after her breakout performance in 12 Years a Slave. 

Nyong’o, 42, recalled the immediate aftermath of her big-screen debut, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2014, while in conversation with actress-musician Angélique Kidjo on CNN.

The Oscar win “was for the first film I had ever done,” recalled the actress. “So, it really did set the paces for everything I’ve done since.”

The Kenyan-Mexican actress went on to call out how many of the offers she received after were confined to stereotypes. “What’s interesting is that after I won the Academy Award, you’d think, like, I’m going to get the lead roles here and there. [Instead it was,] ‘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 kinds of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Following her breakout performance in 12 Years a Slave, the Yale School of Drama graduate booked motion capture and voiceover roles in Star Wars and The Jungle Book. Supporting work in 2018’s Black Panther followed, and Nyong’o played her first lead role in 2019 horror hit Us. 

“It was a very tender time,” Nyong’o recalled to Kidjo, 65, of the years following her initial success. “There is an expectation for you and your career. There were think pieces about, ‘Is this the beginning and end of this dark-skinned, African woman’s career?’ And I had to deafen myself to all those pontificators because at the end of the day I’m not a theory. I’m an actual person.”

She added, “I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African. And if that means I work one less job a year to ensure that I am not perpetuating the stereotypes that are expected of people from my continent, then let me do that.”

Nyong’o led last year’s A Quiet Place: Day One and animated hit The Wild Robot. This past summer, she returned to her theater roots in The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night. Next up is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey (in theaters July 17, 2026).