Lupita Nyong’o Revealed She Had to Hide Her Kenyan Accent

“I guess this accent is called Lupita! I don’t know who could claim it but me.”

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o is opening up about a part of herself that she felt like she needed to hide as she was starting her acting career. During the first episode of her new podcast "Mind Your Own," Nyong’o explained that she has "a complicated relationship" with the way she speaks and that she tried her best to sound "American" so that she would have more opportunities in the entertainment industry.

"In order to create this podcast, I had to get very comfortable with my voice," she shared. Nyong'o was born in Mexico, but was raised in Nairobi, Kenya. For the past two decades, she has lived in the United States. She went on to explain that she was proud of her African accent while attending Massachusetts's Hampshire College, but realized that things would have to change when she enrolled at the Yale School of Drama.

"I made this pact with myself that I would learn how to sound American in a way that would guarantee me a career in acting," she said. "Because obviously, I didn't know very many people in movies and television with Kenyan accents. There was just no market for that."

Nyong’o shared that it took multiple voice lessons per week for her to hide her accent and that she felt great when casting directors couldn't detect her accent at all.

"She said, ‘Oh my goodness, you don't have an accent.’ And I was at once so elated and also so crushed," the actress explained. "I had ridden myself of myself, kind of."

In 2014, Nyong'o decided not to hide that part of herself anymore, revealing that ahead of the press tour for 12 Years a Slave, she told her publicists that she wouldn't be hiding her accent as she spoke to the media.

"I said, ‘I've decided that from tomorrow I am going to return to my original accent. I want to send a message that being an African is enough,'’ she said. "They had never heard me speak in a Kenyan accent."

Nyong’o finished by saying that her mother supported the choice, reassuring her that with or without the Kenyan accent, people would see her talent.

“She said, ‘Your accent is representative of your life experience.' That gave me solace, that an accent comes to being from your life… and just like skin and hair, it can change and it's okay," Nyong'o said. "I guess this accent is called Lupita! I don’t know who could claim it but me."

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