Lupita Nyong’o’s journey from 12 Years A Slave has been remarkable.

Her career started strong with her Academy Award performance in 2013’s 12 Years A Slave by winning the Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

She proceeded with a diverse range of films, including as Maz Kanata in the recent Star Wars films, as Raksha in The Jungle Book, as Nakia in the comic book film Black Panther and the dual characters of Adelaide Wilson/Red in horror film Us.

The versatile actress was recognized with the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020 for her career achievements.

In the historic The Arlington Theatre in Downtown Santa Barbara, director Jordan Peele hosted the actress’s tribute with a hilarious and touching speech.

Nyong’o addressed Peele’s movie Us on how she found that character’s voice.

“I knew that Red had experienced a trauma when she was younger. I thought, ‘What if there was a way to represent her trauma through how she spoke?’” she explained. “That’s where I started building her voice. [Jordan] listened to it. He was silent for a moment. And then he said, ‘Wow. That’s powerful.’”

She was very humbled on accepting her award and acknowledged the experience of joining the cast of 12 Years A Slave.

“I went to Yale with no craft, and that’s where I gained my craft. I wanted to go to drama school because I wanted to deeply understand my instrument. I wanted to understand my strengths and to identify my weaknesses in such a way that I can work on all those weaknesses,” she said.

LRM Online was on the red carpet before her award ceremony to speak briefly to Nyong’o and other independent filmmakers that walked the carpet.

Watch the exclusive videos below.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive