Junior Nyong'o Steps Into the Spotlight, Acting Alongside Sister Lupita in ‘Twelfth Night'

Today, the siblings make history of their own as they take the stage together for the first time as professional actors in Shakespeare in Central Park's production of Twelfth Night at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater. Junior will star opposite his sister, playing twin brother, Sebastian, to her role as Viola.

The production, directed bySaheem Ali and featuring an ensemble cast including Peter Dinklage, Sandra Oh, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, marks the return of free Shakespeare to Central Park after the Delacorte's renovation. For Junior, it represents the culmination of a dream he articulated eight years ago when he first had a minor role inTwelfth Night in Orlando Shakes, Florida.

In this conversation with OkayAfrica, Junior reflects on his journey to this moment, the uniqueness of sharing the stage with his sister, and how his father's love of Shakespeare shaped both their careers.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

OkayAfrica:What does it mean to you, personally and professionally, to be sharing the stage with your sister for this role?

Junior Nyong'o: You know, it's funny because almost a decade ago — eight years ago — when I did Twelfth Night for the first time at Orlando Shakes, I was doing an internship there right after I finished undergrad. This was my first time working in a professional regional theater in the US, my first professional Shakespeare show. I was playing the role of a sea captain and one of Olivia's ladies-in-waiting, and I was understudying Olivia.

It was a special production — an all-male production in original practices. We were dressed in 16th or 17th-century Elizabethan garb, under candlelight, and we even used original pronunciation. I got to wear this awesome, huge ball gown and a wig for the character. Lupita's hair was similar at the time, so when she came to see the show, we took a picture as twins because we were twinning.

And of course, you get to work with Saheem Ali, who is awesome. How has it been working with him as director?

Saheem is a very good friend of my sister, so I've known him for a long time. He brings a passion and energy to the work that he does every single day, which energizes everyone. There's a humility and lack of ego in the room that makes collaboration and sharing of ideas really vibrant. There's always heated discussion — "Oh, we should do this," "No, we should do that"— because everyone feels the agency to share ideas.

He knows exactly what he wants but doesn't hold on to any idea too tightly. He's ready to let it go and invite new things to serve the story better. As an actor, you can come with all these ideas, and he'll give you the space to try them. Sometimes they work really well, sometimes they don't, but you at least have the opportunity to try them. No idea is too big or too small.

You called your sister your twin and best friend. How are you building that sibling chemistry within a Shakespearean context?

One of the things Saheem said early on is that he's interested in how we bring ourselves to Shakespeare. I've always gravitated toward Shakespeare because it's like a blank canvas. I'm not being cast as "Indian cab driver" — there's no typecasting in Shakespeare. It's a 400-year-old play, so you can put whatever you want on it.

Even though we're separated by 10 years, there's always been a kinship between us growing up. She showed me all these weird movies as a kid, and because I was artistically inclined, I think she always felt like she had an ally. We're observing each other a lot in rehearsal and having conversations on the subway as we go to and from the theater. I'm living a few blocks away from her, so every morning when we're both called, I walk over, pick her up, and we ride the subway together.

We're thinking gesturally about what things Sebastian and Viola can share, and vocally, how they can share, but also finding the distinctions. For Viola as Cesario, which aspect of her brother does she take on? Similarly, for Sebastian, what things about that feminine energy of her spirit do I hold dear, especially because they spend so much of the play thinking each other is dead? How do you cling to something you feel is gone forever and let it be alive in your body and your soul?

Many people might be meeting you for the first time through this role. How are you thinking about managing the potential fame that comes with it?

I'm not really concerned. I've had the great advantage of observing what it's like for someone's life to be changed by being thrust into the spotlight, being in proximity to that with my sister for the better part of a decade. Just seeing how having strong personal relationships with people you're close to is what's important in life. So I'm focused on the work because I'm really passionate about the art of it all. I'm also looking forward to being with my family when they come to see the play.

You decided to get your MFA even though you'd been performing your whole life. Why that decision?

After I graduated, I had a year to work; that's when I did my internship with Orlando Shakespeare. I knew I wanted to continue acting in theater, and obviously, not having citizenship, I knew grad school was a way to continue deepening my craft. I was just tasting what it's like to work regularly on shows, experiencing completely new stories I hadn't heard before — musicals, Shakespeare, whatever.

I wanted three or four years to continue to be in the mecca of art and culture and acting opportunities, which is in the US. It was a chance to continue collaborating and meeting other people, other peers. Work visas are very expensive, and many theaters don't have a spare $5,000 to hire someone to come work, so grad school was an opportunity to continue being here and doing the work

You said you're more theater inclined right now. Tell me about that.

The moment that changed everything for me was when we went on an arts tour in the UK. I'd never seen professional theater aside from Phoenix Players in Nairobi. The first thing we saw was a production of Fela! It was Sahr Ngaujah playing Fela, and seeing that man — an African actor bringing an African story about music to the biggest stage — it completely spellbound me.

I'd been getting into jazz music, playing the saxophone, and my teacher was flexible, so when I expressed interest in improvisation, we started exploring jazz, specifically Afrobeat. Seeing that production, knowing about Fela Kuti but not really knowing how much of a political activist he was, how he helped groundbreak and shape African music, it gave me a lot of pride in my Africanness. Our stories have a place. You don't have Burna Boy, you don't have Rema, and in some ways even Sauti Sol, without Fela.

When I interviewed your sister years ago, she said her love for acting came from your dad, because he loves Shakespeare. Was that also your experience with your dad?

Anytime there was Shakespeare at Phoenix [Players], we'd go see it. He loves Shakespeare and is always quoting it. Now that I've done a lot of Shakespeare, I realize some of his quotes are joining two plays together — he's flexible with it. Even in my final year of undergrad, I did Othello for my thesis, and he has a picture of himself as Othello when he was younger.

When he came to see me as Hamlet in Orlando, that was one of the most special moments. He loves the character Polonius, and he couldn't stop talking about the play for the next two hours. It was such a delight. So, in some osmosis way, my love for the Shakespeare text comes from him.

What's it like being in the room with such accomplished actors, and what are you learning?

These are actors I've grown up admiring, watching all their shows, and it's a privilege to get to call them peers. I feel very at home and comfortable — this is my third time doing Twelfth Night, so I have the theatrical vocabulary that helps me feel comfortable.

The biggest takeaway is how much permission they give themselves to show up in their fullness. To do your best work, you must allow yourself to show up. You can't be shy — it's a vulnerable act being on stage. To find the truth of things, you must allow for vulnerability. The biggest lesson is seeing how readily and easily they allow themselves to take up space and show up in that fullness.

The Public Theater has been significant in your story. Can you talk about that connection?

The first play I ever saw at the Public was my sister in Eclipsed nine years ago. The second one was Mlima's Tale by Lynn Nottage. Then there wasGoddess. In 2015, I passed up an opportunity to see a play because I had tickets to see Chance the Rapper. I'll never forgive myself. My sister was like, "Hey, I'm going to see this play, do you want to come?" I said no, and she came home saying it was so dope. It was Hamilton, of course.

The Public is home to super exciting stories, and the ones I've seen all have an African connection. The fact that we're going to be speaking Swahili embedded in Shakespeare, at the return of the thing that helped the Public become the Public — the Delacorte and Shakespeare in the Park, free Shakespeare in a city built on immigration — to hear Shakespeare and Swahili in that space, it's just a combination of everything.