Everyone is talking about Kenyan Actress Lupita Nyong’o and her breakthrough performance in the film 12 Years A Slave which many insiders are saying is a sure bet to get her a Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination. The film was Nyong'o's first major audition as a graduating student from the Yale School of Drama, and her performance is already generating critical acclaim ahead of the film's October 18 release.
The film directed by Steve McQueen is an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s incredible story of slavery and how Northup is duped into traveling to Washington with a pair of smart guys before he discovers the horrible truth he has been sold and no one can help him. His first master appreciates his new slave’s talents, until a zealous and hateful overseer stirs up trouble. Northup is then sold to a plantation owner who makes his life a living hell and mistreats virtually everyone around him, from his spiteful wife to a young and vulnerable female slave (Lupita Nyong’o). The performances are as vivid as the Southern setting. Co-starring with Lupita in the film are Hollywood heavy weights Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson and Alfred Woodard.
About seeing herself in the role for the first time she says "it was a cathartic experience. I wept from the moment Solomon Northup is in shackles right until the very end. "I was happy to be such a wreck. You go through a lot watching the film but it makes you feel closer to humanity. I think it's a real gift to be faced with man's potential for extreme cruelty but also man's resilience and the fact that love really does conquer everything. It's the only answer to these kinds of atrocities and it’s not a passive thing. It's about taking a stand to the point that such a film like this can be made so that we can face our history, embrace it, and move on."
Films like 12 Years a Slave and the like that tell stories of cruelty and hatred are vital so we never forget how slavery was allowed to strip people of their freedom and dignity.
Check out the beautiful actress promoting the film.
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