Ever since Lupita Nyong'o and Rihanna agreed to take part in a heist movie written by Issa Rae and directed by Ava Duvernay, the internet has been waiting with bated breath. Of course, Nyong'o has been off promoting her upcoming film Black Panther. When she was asked about the project while at Comic Con, Nyong'o said all that she could.
The idea for the movie came from a well-known meme. A photograph of Rihanna and Nyong'o at a fashion show looked like they were in a heist movie. The tweet went viral and eventually got the attention of the two celebrities. Then, Issa Rae and Ava Duvernay agreed to write and direct, respectively. Finally, Netflix picked it up. It seemed like all the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, thanks to social media. If fans hadn't loved the idea so much and tagged the celebrities in the posts, it would have never gotten to this point. Nyong'o feels that this energy comes from a desire to be represented in film.
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"Like, Black Panther is being embraced because people are really hungry for this kind of film, and that movie with me and Rihanna and Issa [Rae] and Ava [DuVernay] is another one of those examples where people want to see something like themselves, and something different something they're not being offered yet, and I'm honored to be a part of that conversation," she said.
With movies like Girls Trip doing so well in the box office, it's clear that people are hungry for more diversity in films. Upcoming movies like Black Panther and Proud Mary are allowing people of color to be the stars in action films. Nyong'o and Rihanna's action film will do the same. In the meantime, catch Nyong'o as Nakia in Black Panther in February.
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