‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Star Lupita Nyong’o Says Speaking Spanish In Marvel Film “Was A Gift”

deadline.com:

Lupita Nyong’o made her dream a reality by filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when she was able to speak Spanish. The Academy Award winner for 12 Years a Slave was born in México City to Kenyan parents. “I was so excited about it,” she said at a round table for Entertainment Weekly. “It was just a straight gift.

And I was very, very happy to do it… I’ve always wanted to work in Spanish and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that that opportunity would come in Black Panther.” Nyong’o said that the Marvel movie “represents different sides of my heritage,” adding, “Being born in Mexico and having that Mesoamerican culture represented, it’s something that’s very close to me.” The Black Panther sequel introduces Namor, a villain played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta, who rules Talokan, an underwater civilization based on Aztec legends.

With this plot, Nyong’o’s Nakia was able to speak Spanish and other indigenous languages. For Nyong’o, having the opportunity to speak different languages is something that she thinks is “very cool.” “I always thought that was a very cool thing from the last movie that she spoke Korean, and I always thought that had never been seen before,” Nyong’o said.

Wakanda Forever has been a box office smash, opening at $180M in the U.S. in its first weekend. The Marvel film opened higher than the original $175M estimate domestically.