Lupita Nyong’o is a busy lady these days. With not one, not two, but three Disney movies coming up, the Oscar-winning actress had quite a full schedule at Disney’s D23 event over the weekend. Lupita got to meet one of her co-stars from The Jungle Book — an upcoming adaptation from Jon Favreau that will blend animation with live-action — and helped promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
While there’s a lot of hype about the newest Star Wars film, as always, it was what Lupita had to say about The Jungle Book that had audiences intrigued. Nyong’o posed for pictures with her young co-star, Neel Sethi, who plays her adopted son Mowgli. The actress plays Raksha the wolf in the film.
“Met my #TheJungleBook son #Mowgli for the first time today, Neel Sethi. And we watched a teaser with the #d23expo crowd for the first time. The world is in for a TREAT,” Nyong’o said of the movie.
The Jungle Book is due out next year and also stars Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, and Christopher Walken.
Lupita made headlines at the event with her chic summery dress and curly hairstyle, which is longer than what she usually wears. She later shared tons of photos on Instagram, including a silly one of her holding up two new Star Wars posters.
Nyong’o has a third Disney movie in the works, The Queen of Katwe, which was filmed in Uganda and tells the true story of 12-year-old chess genius Phiona Mutesi. Lupita said that she got to meet the real Phiona and talked to People about how Katwe is not an easy place to live in.
“First of all, I am from East Africa, from Kenya, which is just next door to Uganda. It was invaluable. I met Phiona and her mother and they are just incredible people,” she said, adding that filming on location “did sober us and enliven us. To have that vibe was really exciting.”
Lupita Nyong’o made headlines earlier this year when rumors began to fly that she was dating Jared Leto. One source told Hollywood Life that their relationship was made difficult by the fact that Leto is a stone-cold flirt.
“Lupita is totally up for a romance with Jared! She and her boyfriend K’naan split months ago and she’s definitely ready for a relationship with the right guy. She likes Jared … problem is that although Jared loves to flirt he doesn’t seem interested in taking it further than that,” the source said.
[Photo courtesy Ellen DeGeneres]