Lupita Nyong'o Quotes

I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor get to be the hero?

I look forward to the day when indigenous actors can play Hamlet and Ophelia and not just Othello and Desdemona.

I've always wanted to be in comedy... growing up with Asian parents and not seeing yourself represented in media - it was always just a daydream.

Films really can change a conversation and change someone's thinking and perception, especially with people of color at the center. It rarely happens. I think it's important for both the community but also the world to see people of color in all genres, especially love stories.

It's not enough even to have one black Barbie... because black women are not a monolith.

There's something very important about films about black women and girls being made by black women. It's a reflection as opposed to an interpretation.

I want to see women of African descent shine.

I'm really passionate about representation in film. I feel like the world is dominated by such a small group of human beings. There are so many different kinds of people that aren't represented, that don't have characters who look like them.

People just can't wrap their heads around two young black women in a major production.

I grew up figure skating, and in figure skating there is only a handful of black people at the time figure skating with me.

I am proud to be able to exhibit my work and inspire young people. Especially young black women so they know that they are beautiful, that they don't have to hold onto any negative stereotypes.

With 'Black Panther,' black artists were provided with the opportunity and agency to create art that captures the full range of their imaginative possibilities. It matters that Chadwick Boseman is the protagonist and is supported by a cast of nearly all black characters.

I didn't even aspire to be a model because I didn't see myself represented, even as simple as the freckles on my skin.

It has been very rare to see a black woman as a protagonist. And also as three-dimensional people - mathematicians, mothers, wives, complicated people, not perfect.

I try not to put anything political on the forefront of what I'm trying to do creatively. At the same time, I do think it's wonderful when I hear people say that it's inspirational that I'm an Indian woman on camera. My life is very diverse, and my friends are a diverse group of people.

I want to be able to work on a project that will give people around the world the chance to represent their own people, their own culture, their own stories, rather than just Hollywood - really, you know, dominated Hollywood. And that's a dream of mine.

By including women in decision-making, city governments will be in a better position to fulfill their responsibility to ensure the safety of their residents, especially women and girls.

When I was a kid, it wasn't very often that I could go to the movies and see an entire movie carried on the shoulders of someone who looked like me.

I think all Latino actors want to be storytellers first. I want to be an actor first, and then I want to be Latina.

I'm very proud to be representing Latinas and women of color, young mothers and full-figured women. I just love that we're seeing different types of people on screen.

I would like to see more films being made with people of color behind the camera and in front of the camera, because the more times at bat we have, the better we get.

People of color and women are increasingly being shown on-screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesn't make sense.

'Hollywood maids' are so idiotic. They grin at everything. I told Norman Lear I didn't want to play a maid because of that 'hee-hee/grin-grin' attitude, and he said, 'Who said I wanted that?' He told me he wanted two strong women that are the black and white of the same coin. I said, 'Oh, well - in that case, I'll be right there!'

I love writing for other actors, women of African descent and people who are generally underrepresented.

Every child deserves to see themselves in stories they can enjoy, but it isn't the place of white people to decide how and why those stories are created and marketed.