Lupita Nyong'o opens up on worst career advice she got after winning Oscar

Washington [US], July 5 : Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong'o has several accolades to her credit and she shared that they turned up expectations for her, reported People.
"It definitely put the pressure on," she said. "It was my first movie, and now I had received what is considered the pinnacle of one's achievement as an actor. ... So there I was like, 'Okay, what happens now? I can't afford to fail.' "
It has been ten years since the 'A Quiet Place: Day One' actor earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her debut film performance in '12 Years of Slave'.
'12 Years a Slave' is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by John Ridley.
Many people in the industry have thoughts about what Nyong'o should do next. What was the worst career advice she received at the time? "That I needed to seize the day and do bigger. That the next thing after '12 Years of Slave' needed to be a lead role in a blockbuster movie." She added of her perspective, "It wasn't about the size of the role, it's about the quality of the role, at least for me."
A conversation with another Oscar winner, Emma Thompson, "really set me straight," says Nyong'o. "She said, 'You have to live your life the way you think is suitable. You have to listen to your intuition.' Even up until that point, there was no formula that I followed, so there had to be no formula moving forward," shared Nyong'o.
"She was like, 'You have to give yourself permission to fail.' That was great advice to hear at a time when everybody was saying, 'Seize the day, you've got to find that lead role, then you've got to do this and that, and blockbuster movies and all that.' "
After her Oscar win, Nyong'o did a Broadway turn in Eclipsed in 2016, which scored her a Tony nomination. "I listened to my intuition," she said. "I went back to the theatre and I did a play on Broadway, which really did save me from imposter syndrome and just the fear of failure."
In Hollywood, she followed up her Oscar win with a role in Liam Neeson's 2014 action picture Non-Stop, a motion-capture role in the Star Wars universe, and a voice appearance in Jungle Book (2016). She went on to feature in the Black Panther movie, as well as dual parts in Jordan Peele's horror thriller Us and the latest sequel of A Quiet Place.
Nyong'o said doing the CGI Star Wars role in 2015's The Force Awakens was "surprising" to some. But, "I'd been given the privilege of this award, it comes with having some semblance of choice. I was in a place where I was financially stable enough that I could choose. So I decided to exercise that privilege and choose."
She would like to do a rom-com. "I don't get comedic roles offered to me. Ever. I'm known for dramatic roles, so I tend to get that kind of role. Lots of depth, darkness," says Nyong'o, quickly adding, "I love depth. I'm not saying I don't want depth. But darkness and drama, I get that a lot."
"I am always trying to choose roles that I haven't played before, roles that will stretch me," she shared. "I think comedy is very scary. It's very hard to achieve, and I want to try my hand at it more." A Quiet Place: Day One is in theaters now, reported People.