Lupita Nyong'o felt the "pressure on" after she won an Oscar
The '12 Years a Slave' actress, 41, was handed the trophy for best supporting actress for her role in Sir Steve McQueen's 2013 19th century-set slavery shocker, said she was left feeling like she could never fail in her acting career after getting accolade
7 July 2024
She told People: "It definitely put the pressure on. 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'."
When asked to detail the worst career advice she had ever received, Lupita added: "That I needed to seize the day and do bigger. That the next thing after '12 Years a Slave' needed to be a lead role in a blockbuster movie.
"(But) it wasn't about the size of the role, it's about the quality of the role, at least for me."
Lupita also said she was "really set straight" about her ambitions after talking with fellow Oscar-winner and acting veteran Dame Emma Thompson, 65.
She said: "(Emma told me), 'You have to live your life the way you think is suitable. You have to listen to your own intuition'.
"Even up until that point, there was no formula that I followed, so there had to be no formula moving forward.
"She was like, 'You have to give yourself permission to fail'.
"That was really great advice to hear at a time when everybody was saying, 'Seize the day, you've got to find that lead role, then you've got to do this and that, and blockbuster movies and all that'."
Lupita appears to have taken Emma's advice onboard as after her Oscar win she did a Broadway turn in 'Eclipsed' in 2016 - which landed her a Tony nomination.
She said: "I listened to my intuition. I went back to the theatre and I did a play on Broadway, which really did save me from imposter syndrome and just the fear of failure."
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