Lupita Nyong’o Gave Her ‘Black Panther’ Co-Star a College Tour Years Before They Starred in the Marvel Movie Together
Sometimes it’s a small world, even with the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe. That must have felt like the case for Lupita Nyong’o when filming MCU’s Black Panther and its box-office-smashing sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In both films, Nyong’o stars with her old friend, Winston Duke. She originally met him while giving a campus tour at Yale University. But the pair’s bond goes much deeper.
Lupita Nyong’o’s unique childhood
Nyong’o was born in Mexico City after her parents fled Kenya due to political unrest. But soon, her father, a senator, political activist, and former university lecturer, returned to Africa. Nyong’o grew up there as the second-eldest child of six.
As Vogue reports, Nyong’o’s village reflects her family’s long history. Her family name is attached to the village’s wellspring, a chapel, and the local orphanage. Her family brims with charity, service, and, perhaps above all, dedication — Nyong’o being no exception.
When Nyong’o was 16, she returned to Mexico for several months to learn Spanish and soon journeyed to the United States to attend Hampshire College. She then earned a master’s degree from Yale School of Drama.
Lupita Nyong’o met ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ co-star Winston Duke long before filming
Given her upbringing, it comes as no surprise Nyong’o was busy giving tours to the University’s newcomers while she studied at Yale. On one of these tours she met her future Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-star.
Speaking to Esquire, Duke recalls meeting Nyong’o on the tour. But the actor says their bond ran much deeper than just that of classmates. Like Nyong’o, Duke is an immigrant. The actor was raised in Trinidad and Tobago, a dual-island Caribbean nation near Venezuela. He worked running errands at the restaurant his mother owned. Like Nyong’o, Duke describes being raised in a strong, colorful culture with powerful role models.
“She and I became really close because we shared that immigrant experience,” Duke says in the interview. “We shared the idea of having really big dreams knowing that we’d left our own country.”
They found others that shared this experience too. While at Yale, Nyong’o and Duke joined FOLKS, a group originally formed by another Black Panther alumna, Angela Basset. FOLKS is a community that supports “solidarity, legacy, and high-risk artistry among the Black artists“ attending the school (Yale).
During their time as Yale students, Nyong’o and Duke went to see Avengers together. The friends dreamed of the day they could star in a sweeping epic of that magnitude.
Nyong’o and Duke join ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
Beginning in 2018 with Black Panther, Nyong’o plays Wakandan spy, Nakia, who is also the lover of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman). Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sees Nyong’o reprise her role, though she is now mourning T’Challa’s death.
But, whereas Nyong’o already had an Academy Award (for her performance in 12 Years a Slave), Black Panther was Duke’s first film role. Duke, having pledged only to take roles with a cause for social justice, had turned down many roles before auditioning for M’Baku in Black Panther.
Duke describes his deep connection to M’Baku, saying, “[M’Baku]’s holding them accountable to be something better … They need to remember and have reverence to their history and the culture. That’s the only way that we can make it forward.”
Likewise, in search of the true history of Black Panther’s female warriors, the Dora Milaje, Nyong’o journeyed back to Africa in 2019 for her documentary Warrior Women.
It certainly is not hard to see why Nyong’o and Duke became friends, nor why they were both drawn to (and are perfect representations of) the themes within the Black Panther franchise.
