Lupita Nyong'o received critical acclaim for her role Adelaide Wilson and Wilson's doppleganger, Red, in Jordan Peele's Us. While some entertainers would capitalize on this commercial and critical success by returning to the well, Nyong'o is ready to move on from the character.
"No thanks," Nyong'o said to Deadline when asked if she's interested in making a sequel to Us. "Red is dead."
The Oscar winner attacked her role in Us with a lot of vigor. Although it received acclaim, Nyong'o admits that her performance was an extremely hard task that she's not interested in tackling again. For this role, the actress chose to morph her voice when speaking as Red.
"I had to hold down both sides of the argument," she described. "I had to be the offender and the offended. It was about understanding the emotional landscape of each character but also having a very strict discipline to play both physically and mentally."
While she's not willing to return to this frame of mind to create another movie, Nyong'o did gain a lot from the experience. She claims that playing her doppelganger made her connect with the deeper theme of the movie. As a result, she found comfort in pinpointing her inner "monster."
"This movie is an externalization of our monster. It’s a movie that explores who we think of as the enemy. Often times we’re very eager to paint people across the border, or from a different religion, or a different creed, or culture, as the enemy. It’s easier to project that. But what happens when we look at ourselves? What are the enemies within ourselves?" Nyong'o said. "For me, what I found I related to was that identifying with that inner monster inside me."
