Lupita Nyong’o says Hollywood tried to box her into slave roles after Oscar win — and why she said ‘No’

After winning an Oscar for her role in “12 Years A Slave,” Lupita Nyong’o recalls being offered the same “slave” roles.

Winning an Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is one of the greatest honors in an actor’s career. And though one would expect the iconic golden trophy to clear the way for more opportunities, lead roles, and projects, actress Lupita Nyong’o recalls a very different experience. 

In a recent interview with CNN, the “Black Panther” actress reflected on how her Academy Award impacted her career. 

“Well, my winning an Academy Award came at the very start of my career. 
It was for the very first film that I had done. So it really did set the paces for everything I’ve done since,” Nyong’o shared. “But you know what’s interesting is that after I won that Academy Award, you know, you’d think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get lead roles here and there.’” 

Instead, her award for Best Supporting Actress in “12 Years a Slave” in 2014 led to more offers to play slaves in other projects. 

“‘Oh, Lupita, we’d like to play you to play another movie where you’re a slave, but this time, you’re on a slave ship.’ Those are the kinds of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award,” she continued. “And it was a very tender time because, you know, there’s an expectation for you and your career. 
They were think pieces about ‘Oh, is this the end of is this beginning and end of this dark skinned Black, African woman’s career?’ And I had to deafen myself to all those pontificators because at the end of the day, I’m not a theory. I’m an actual person.” 

Nyong’o is not the first Black actress to experience the subsequent pressure that comes with receiving an Academy Award. Halle Berry, the first and only Black actress to receive an Academy Award in the Best Actress category, and Viola Davis, who won Best Supporting Actress in 2017, have opened up about the pressure and the limited roles available for Black women, regardless of their accolades. 

Halle Berry and viola davis are two of many woman who have talked about this too pic.twitter.com/JdVumOjaNP— Steven (@StevenTnyc) November 23, 2025

“I have the award, but did it really change my career? Did it make my journey indelibly easier? No,” Berry said in an interview with Sway Calloway. “In some ways, it made it harder, because now I had this award and there was so much expected of me. I had to live up to having this thing.”

In the Apple TV documentary “Number One on The Call Sheet,” Davis echoed these sentiments, sharing,  “I choose projects differently, but the truth of the matter is… it is hard to get a job. No matter how much intention you have to say, ‘This is a type of role I want next time, don’t call me unless you have that role.’ 
A lot of those roles, especially for us– I’m 58; I’m a dark-skinned Black woman; even if I were light-skinned– those roles don’t even exist.” 

Like Davis, Berry, and many Black actresses in the industry, Nyong’o understands that her presence and career are about more than just herself, which is why she’s unapologetically intentional about the roles she takes on. 

“I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African,” she shared. “And if that means that I work, one job less a year to ensure that I’m not perpetuating the stereotypes that are expected of people from my continent, then let me do that.”