Lupita Nyong’o has a request for Hollywood directors.
On Friday, June 14, Paramount Pictures and Hollywood Confidential hosted an event celebrating the Oscar-winning actress, 41, for her years in the film and TV industry at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.
Nyong’o’s film and TV resume is extensive — she took home a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2014 for her work in 12 years of slaveryhe portrayed Chadwick Boseman’s spy and romantic interest in the Black panther and acted in horror films including the Jordan Peele thriller Our — but there’s one genre she really wants to tackle next, she told PEOPLE.
“Please tell everyone I’m looking for a rom-com,” she announced. “I’m here. I’m taking calls. Look, if I need to audition, I’m going to do it. I’m dying to do comedy. I’m dying to do comedy.”
Everything you need to know A Quiet Place: Day One
Lupita Nyong’o speaks onstage during the Hollywood Confidential tribute event in support of ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ on June 14, 2024.
Arnold Turner/Getty
The Emmy winner started taking matters into her own hands, posting silly videos of herself, her cat and more to show off her bright side.
“I try to tell these executives that I’m funny and that I can be lighthearted and easygoing,” Nyong’o added. “But I have more dramatic roles than light ones, so someone just has to take a chance on me. So consider this my open application.”
Continuing her horror streak for now, Nyong’o stars in Quiet place prequel A Quiet Place: Day One. She had some nice words about how imaginative the franchise’s creator, John Kraskinski, is.
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“I was very honored to be offered this role because I think John Krasinski has created a very innovative world,” she said of Office alum, who starred in and directed the first Quiet place movie in 2018. “And it’s a fun world. It’s a very specific world. It’s a tense world.”
Nyong’o compared the world quiet place with all its alien invasions and chase sequences, to the games she played as a child.
Lupita Nyong’o honored her mother’s birthday with an emotional tribute: ‘May I grow up to be half the woman she is’
“It’s like it’s under a lion. You commit to that context and go after it,” she explained to PEOPLE. “And that’s what you ask of adults. Imagine a world where you have to be silent in order to survive. It’s exciting for me to be in that kind of hyper-imaginative world.”
In addition, the actress had high praise for her co-star, Stranger Things alum Joseph Quinn.
“They work [the movie] with someone like Joe was great,” she said, recalling watching Quinn take on the role of beloved D&D player Eddie Munson. “I thought he was extremely memorable and moving as an actor, and I was very eager to meet him and ask what he would be like in person. What I’ve found is that he’s a very hardworking actor and an exceptional gentleman, and he’s a team player.”
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Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn in ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’.
Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures
“We got into a groove very quickly working together, and it was fun. It was always surprising. I just loved it. It was a beautiful, beautiful match in terms of our chemistry,” she added of the actor.
A Quiet Place: Day One quite different from the original story of the first film. Instead of happening on a farm, Day one follows Nyong’s character through an alien invasion as it unfolds in the hustle and bustle of New York.
“I think this movie is a tribute to New York,” Nyong’o told PEOPLE, adding that she hopes it will drive audiences to see it in theaters. “It’s a reminder of how amazing and rewarding it is to come watch a movie together.”
“That cinematic experience — you can’t change it,” she added. “Like, yeah, okay, okay, the ease of watching a movie at home, but this movie was made for that immersive cinematic experience, and there’s nothing as cool and satisfying as having a cathartic experience in a group setting.”
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Created by TV producer and content producer Steve Jones, the Hollywood Confidential event series features one-on-one conversations with the most powerful voices of color in entertainment in an effort to inspire and empower the next generation of actors, writers, producers and directors of color.
Before Nyong’o, previous guests who have been honored for their cultural influence include Regina King, Angela Bassett, Tabitha Brown, Issa Rae, Snoop Dogg and Sterling K. Brown.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education