My immediate family was always very supportive. It was my own fear of the rest of the world not accepting me, the rest of our society not accepting my wish to be an actor.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
When I was younger, I was almost too afraid to admit that I wanted to be an actor.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the fear of pursuing one's dreams, specifically in acting.
Lupita Nyong'o reflects on her younger self, highlighting the fear and hesitation that can accompany the pursuit of one's passions and dreams. It speaks to the vulnerability that many people feel when wanting to express their true aspirations, particularly in creative fields like acting, where external judgment and criticism can be daunting.
In practice
In an interview about her career journey, I shared this quote to emphasize the importance of overcoming fear in pursuing passion.
My immediate family was always very supportive. It was my own fear of the rest of the world not accepting me, the rest of our society not accepting my wish to be an actor.
[My mother] always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point.
What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion: for yourself and for those around you.
That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade in that beauty.
As human beings, we aren't as individual as we'd like to believe we are. And I think that's what makes acting possible. Despite the fact that I have not experienced something, I have it in my human capacity to imagine it and to put myself in someone else's shoes, and to take someone else's circumstances personally.
I've loved the opportunity to learn about the fashion world and appreciate it as an art form, and I look forward to my continued education, but I never want it to take over my acting.
If not now, then when? If not you, then who? If we are able to answer these fundamental questions, then perhaps we can wipe away the blot of human slavery.
Listeners, that brings us to the end of another Potterwatch. We donβt know when it will be possible to broadcast again, but you can be sure we shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials: the next password will be βMad-Eye.β Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night.
I was there. I saw your sons and your husbands, your brothers and your sweethearts. I saw how they worked, played, fought, and lived. I saw some of them die. I saw more courage, more good humor in the face of discomfort, more love in an era of hate and more devotion to duty than could exist under tyranny.
I know that after my letter there will be undoubtedly an 'opinion' about me, but I am not afraid of it. I openly say what I think. Talent, of which we are proud, must not be submitted to the assaults of the past.
I've run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian.
I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.
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