How Lupita Nyong’o Feels About Keeping Star Wars Secrets

Maz Kanata

While being a part of the Star Wars universe must certainly be fun, there is a great deal of pressure that comes with the job as well. After all, the science-fiction franchise is one of the most guarded in the entire industry, and as a result anyone involved with the various projects have to be all but completely silent about what they know and what they've seen. You'd think this would weigh heavily on anyone, but it turns out you can scratch Lupita Nyong'o off that list. As it happens, she not only really loves keeping secrets, but is even legitimately disappointed when those secrets become public knowledge.

With 2016's The Queen Of Katwe recently being released on Blu-ray and DVD, I had the tremendous pleasure of hopping on the phone with Lupita Nyong'o to talk about her work... and it was at the end of our conversation that we touched upon her need to be cautious regarding her involvement in the Star Wars franchise. Specifically, I asked her if reveals like the title for Star Wars: Episode 8, The Last Jedi, felt like relief on a certain level because it means holding on to one less secret. As the Oscar-winning actress explained to me, however, she actually loves knowing all of the Star Wars answers, and is actually disappointed when things leak out. Said Nyong'o,

I love shutting up. I love it. I love the fact that I don't have to talk about Star Wars. It's so, you know, I feel, I feel like I have a secret that everybody else wants to know about. That's powerful. I love it. I feel a little sad every time more information is revealed.

If you break it down, it certainly seems like Lupita Nyong'o would love it if she could spend the rest of her career making Star Wars movies and never have them arrive in theaters for public consumption. But try not to hold that against her!

Of course, it's worth noting that the actress is actually in a very powerful position within the Star Wars universe, and it's very likely that she holds onto some key details about the future of the franchise. In the recently-revived series, Lupita Nyong'o plays Maz Kanata -- an alien who is not only incredibly old and has seen a great deal of the past, but who is also better connected to the larger universe thanks to her relationship with The Force. It's expected that Maz is going to ultimately prove to be a vital character in the development of Daisy Ridley's Rey -- though we really know nothing about her role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (and apparently that's exactly how Nyong'o likes it).

The extra good news for Lupita Nyong'o is that keeping secrets should be an important part of her career for a few years to come. Not only is she expected to continue playing Maz Kanata through the end of the new Star Wars trilogy, but she has also signed on to play a key Black Panther role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- another franchise that very highly values mystery and hidden details. So even when The Last Jedi does arrive in theaters and reveal all of its surprises are shared with the world, Nyong'o will still be able to not tell people what's going on in the nation of Wakanda.

The Queen Of Katwe is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from our interview with Lupita Nyong'o!

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.