When I was younger, I was almost too afraid to admit that I wanted to be an actor. I didn't know any successful actors in Kenya, so I felt like I could get away with going to college to study film more easily than I could with saying, 'I want to be an actor.' That's what I did.

The first time I cut all my hair off was when I was 19. I just got fed up going to the salon every week. I'd had enough! On a whim, it was off. It's low-maintenance.

Even in my dreams of being an actor, my dream was not in the celebrity. My dream was in the work that I wanted to do.

There is no shame in black beauty.

Everyone said, ‘Brace yourself, Lupita! Keep a granola bar in that clutch of yours!’ I didn’t really understand what they meant, and it was only once it was past that I realized that my body had been holding on by a thread to get through this very intense experience. Nothing can prepare you for awards season. The red carpet feels like a war zone, except you cannot fly or fight; you just have to stand there and take it.

Being called gorgeous is not a bad thing! But at the same time, I don’t want to thrive on people’s opinions of me.

As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.