Lupita Nyong’o On Fear Of Failure And Her Long Path To Success

When Lupita Nyong’o was growing up, “actor” was not considered a viable career path. At last Thursday’s Massachusetts Conference for Women, she described how she was inspired by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, but thought becoming a performer was out of reach. As quoted in Jezebel, she told the crowd that she dared not breathe a word of her ambitions since they were so out of the ordinary.

“What I wanted more than anything was to make believe for a living. When I watched The Color Purple and watched Oprah and Whoopi Goldberg, a seed was planted in my heart to becoming an actor, but I dared not water it in public… Nobody I knew around me was acting for a living. In school, it wasn’t one of the professions you learned about. It didn’t help that we only had one TV station and it aired very boring programming as a child.”

Nyong’o eventually made her way from Nairobi, Kenya, to the Yale School of Drama. As People recounts, she was offered her Academy Award-winning role in 12 Years a Slave just before graduation. She’s slated to star in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

As much as Nyong’o wanted the audience to know she had few role models in acting while growing up, she also made a point about the fear of failure. It plagued her throughout the filming of 12 Years a Slave, but Lupita believes it helped her to grow.

“It allows you to embrace vulnerability and surprise yourself… It doesn’t ever get comfortable. But it does get familiar.”

Through her words, she also encouraged audience members to embrace their fears in order to reach their full potential, regardless of what profession the eventually enter.

“We continue to fight for equality, for justice, for freedom, for compassion and we achieve the most when we are awakened and responsive to the desires of our individual hearts.”

“Without the possibility of being bad at something, you will never be extraordinary.”

As Inc. reported, Lupita even recommended two books at the Massachusetts conference, including one on the topic of facing up to trepidation: Dr. Don Greene’s “Fight Your Fear and Win.” She also spoke about “Map for Life” by Glen Allen McQuirk.

When Nyong’o talked about her decision to become an actor despite the odds, she became emotional. She also gave a shout-out to her “number one cheerleader,” her mother, who was in the audience. She posted a photo of herself and her mother on her Instagram the day of the talk, with the hashtag “#MothersWhoRock.”

[Lupita Nyong’o Image: David M. Benett/Getty via People]