Lupita Nyong’o Explains Why She Went Back to Kenyan Accent Amid Rising Hollywood Star

Oscar-winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has for the first time opened up about making the decision to go back to her original Kenyan accent after masking it for years in order to make it in Hollywood.

Speaking during the first episode of her new podcast ‘Mind Your Own’, the actress said she has always had a very complicated relationship with her voice.

“In order to create this podcast, I had to get very comfortable with my voice,” Lupita admitted.

Seeing as there were not many actors with a Kenyan accent in the industry, she said that she made a pact with herself to always sound American in order to score more roles in Hollywood.

Photo of actor Lupita Nyong’o

Photo

Lupita Nyong’o

However, on the eve of the press tour for the movie that won her her first Oscar award, ’12 Years a Slave’, Lupita said she called her publicists and told them that she would like to start using her original accent saying she wanted to send a message that being African was enough.

“They had never heard me speak in my Kenyan accent,” Lupita recalled.

She even went on to call her mother, Dorothy Nyong’o concerning the decision who fortunately encouraged her to embrace her roots telling her that using her accent would be a representative of her life experience.

“That gave me solace, that an accent comes to being from your life. And just like skin and hair, it can change and it’s okay.” Lupita affirmed.

Even though Lupita was born in Mexico, her family moved back to Kenya when she was one and spent her formative years living mostly in Nairobi before moving back to Mexico at 17.

In Kenya, she is best known for her role in MTV’s Shuga which came out in 2009, years before she would wow the world with her acting prowess as Patsey in the movie ‘12 Years a Slave.’

During her speech at the Oscar Awards ceremony of 2014, Lupita said, “No matter where you come from, your dreams are valid.”

These words continue to resonate with not only Kenyans but Africans around the world who might feel like they are not good enough especially due to their accents.

Culminating in her decision to keep her Kenyan accent, Lupita has successfully been able to book African roles in blockbuster films in Hollywood including ‘Blank Panther’ and ‘Queen of Katwe.’

As for her accent, Lupita simply says, “I guess this accent is called Lupita! I don’t know who could claim it but me.”

Lupita Nyong’o alongside her costars during press tour for Black Panther:Wakanda Forever in Nigeria in 2022