Lupita Nyong'o Thought Her Career Would End After the Oscars

Lupita Nyong’o displays her natural beauty on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar UK‘s May 2015 issue, on newsstands now.

Here is what the 32-year-old Oscar-winning actress had to share with the mag:

On life after the Oscars: “You know, I thought it would come to an end after the Oscars. I thought the Oscars would come and go and then all of a sudden everything would be back to normal and I’d be back in my apartment.”

On wanting to act despite difficulties with fame: “I enjoy learning new things. I enjoy being uncomfortable for some reason. It’s more interesting, more challenging… That’s why I’m an actor. Because there’s nothing comfortable about being an actor. You’re always out on a ledge, you know?”

On the responsibility that comes with her skin color: “I don’t feel like the responsibility I feel comes from any place other than my gut. I feel a responsibility to speak about certain things because I wish someone had spoken about them for me… I know I’m in a unique position where lots of people all over the world are seeing me and connecting with me, and perhaps because of my demographic and how limited representation is for my demographic, I do feel not a responsibility but an impetus to speak. It’s an impetus…. It’s 2015, man. We could all use some diversity. It can get tedious to have to explain that I speak English because Kenyans speak English.”

For more from Lupita, visit HarpersBazaar.co.uk or check out the digital edition.