Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has opened up about her complex relationship with accents in the first episode of her new podcast, Mind Your Own.
During the conversation, Lupita shared how she struggled with her identity while navigating the pressures of the entertainment industry.
Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, moved to the U.S. more than two decades ago. While attending Hampshire College in Massachusetts, she was determined to keep her African accent. But things changed when she enrolled at the Yale School of Drama.
Faced with the realities of the acting world, she felt she had to adopt an American accent to stand a chance in Hollywood.
“I’ve had a complicated relationship with the way I speak,” Nyong’o explained. “In undergrad, I held onto my Kenyan accent for dear life. But when I got to Yale, I made a pact with myself to sound American. I thought it was the only way I could have a career in acting because, at the time, I didn’t see anyone in film or TV with a Kenyan accent. There just wasn’t a market for that.”
Best known for her role in 12 Years a Slave, Nyong’o recalled a particularly bittersweet moment early in her career.
During an audition, a casting director was shocked to learn she was from Kenya because she didn’t have an accent. “I was elated, but also crushed,” she said. “I had gotten rid of a part of myself, and that hurt.”
However, everything changed when she was preparing for her breakthrough role in 12 Years a Slave. Nyong’o decided she could no longer hide her true self.
Before the press tour for the film, she called her representatives and informed them of her decision to return to her natural accent.
“I told them, ‘From tomorrow, I’m going back to my original accent. I want to send a message that being African is enough,’” she shared. “My agents had never even heard me speak in a Kenyan accent before.”
Nyong’o now fully embraces her accent, saying it helps her stay connected to her identity. “I spoke to my mom, and she told me, ‘Your accent is a reflection of your life experience.’ That gave me so much peace,” she said.
“An accent, like skin or hair, can change over time, and that’s okay. I guess my accent is just Lupita. No one else can claim it but me.”
Through her podcast and public appearances, Nyong’o hopes to inspire others to be proud of their unique identities, no matter where they come from.
“I don’t hesitate to speak in my true voice anymore,” she said. “It’s a part of who I am, and I won’t hide it for anyone.”