Lupita Nyong’o’s mother will always be her daughter’s number one fan — even if it sometimes scares her.
“My mom just came to the premiere ofUsandLittle Monstersthe next day. She [had not seen]Us, so she sat in the audience,” Nyongo’o explains. “She hates scary movies, so she shut her eyes the whole time and blocked her ears.”
“I’m happy she was there, I can assure you that’s not her favorite film of mine,” she adds with a laugh. “But, she is supportive until the day she dies. She will sit through despite the fact that she doesn’t have the spine for it. That kind of thing warms my heart because I know she’s my number one fan whether she can handle my madness or not.”
Claudette Barius/Universal Pictures
For more on Lupita Nyong’o and her new movieUs, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.
Usmarks Nyong’o’s first foray into horror, a leap she says she was eager to make for both the acting challenge it provided in playing two characters — and to work with writer/director Jordan Peele (Get Out).
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Another aspect of makingUsthat excited Nyongo’o was developing different movement styles for both of her characters.
“Fitness is always a part a part of my experience of working on a film. But for this one I actually got to do ballet,” she says. “Adelaide Wilson has a background of a dancer. I was keen to have her, and of course Jordan was too, to have her still have her residue as a dancer. When you meet retired dancers they still have that physical quality to them. I took ballet lessons for awhile, I had these two great ballet teachers both in New York and in LA. That was very, very difficult,” Nyong’o admits.
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“Ballerinas are stronger than people think they are, in order to seem as elevated and light as they come across they have to be very rooted to the ground and they have an incredible sense of space both front and back. That was really fascinating to learn and experience.”
Usopens in theaters Friday, March 22.
source: people.com
