Kenyan Oscar-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o says she’s in love with writer, Chimamanda Adichie’s novel, ‘Americanah’.
Nyong’o who is set to play a major role in the screen adaptation of the novel explained that she fell in love with the book because of Chimamanda’s unique ability to bring the characters to life.
“I was awestruck by her ability to capture such exquisite character in a way that made me laugh but also made me feel seen,” the actress said on Saturday, while addressing an audience in Lagos, Nigeria.
According to her, she had read other books by the writer – Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus and “both of them were incredible”.
This fueled her anticipation for the next book Americanah, which she pre-ordered long before its release in April 2013.
“I remember finishing the book and falling madly in love with Obinze… at this point, he’s like the standard man that I’m still looking for, but I just felt like this is a character that I would love to embody on screen because what I do is act and her characters were just so actable”.
Speaking further, Nyong’o noted that one of the things she feels privileged to do is to bring specificity to the African story.
For her, the vague and generalised representations of Africa is a trend she hopes to see less of and that’s one of the reasons she’s excited to be among the cast of Americanah, as it is expected to be set in Nigeria.
“So, I’m here (in Lagos) to immerse myself and learn as much as I can in order to do the story justice,” she added.
The Black Panther actress said she “appreciates the warm welcome” so far in the country, among other things.
She was also excited to share some of the Igbo Language and Pidgin she had picked up in the course of her brief stay.
“Daalu o” (meaning thank you) .. she said, expressing her gratitude as the audience cheered her on.
