I don't think I will ever be able to really articulate how bizarre it was to hear my name at the Academy Awards. I'd watched in my pajamas the year before! I felt numb - dazed and confused. I remember feeling light - weightless. More like limbo than cloud nine. At first I was like, This is my statue; nobody gets to touch it. And by midnight I was like, Please, someone, take this statue; it's too heavy! So I gave it to my brother, and he went off with it.
Lupita Nyong'oThere's always a sense of newness with acting, because every role, you come to every role fresh.
Lupita Nyong'oWhat is fundamentally beautiful is compassion: for yourself and for those around you.
Lupita Nyong'oWhat I've learned from myself is that I don't have to be anybody else. Myself is good enough.
Lupita Nyong'oDrama is my sweet spot, but the thing about being an actor is that you want to do a variety of things. I definitely love fantasy and would want to be in a fantasy project.
Lupita Nyong'oOn a very practical level, I've learned the importance of circulation socks for planes. I had this awful experience of getting off a flight to go to an event and my feet had swelled. Try getting into heels then! So you put on the socks for the flight, then you can wear whatever heels you want.
Lupita Nyong'o