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Lupita Nyong’o’s latest role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is fully displaying her Latino heritage. In a recent interview, the Mexican-born star spoke about her role as the multi-lingual Wakandan spy Nakia.
The Kenyan actress told EW that speaking Spanish in the new movie was a joy. “I was so excited about it,” the 39-year-old Oscar winner said. “It was just a straight gift. And I was very, very happy to do it… I’ve always wanted to work in Spanish, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that that opportunity would come in Black Panther.”
Nyong’o said the movie “represents different sides of my heritage,” adding that “Being born in Mexico and having that Mesoamerican culture represented, it’s something that’s very close to me.”
Nyong’o also shared the importance of her multilingual character. “I always thought that was a very cool thing from the last movie that she spoke Korean, and I always thought that had never been seen before,” she said, as reported by the publication.
Earlier this month, HOLA! USA reported Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces a whole new Marvel kingdom centered on Latino representation, including the first Latino antagonist Alex Livinalli , who brings to life the iconic Marvel Comics character, “Attuma.”
The film features a score and soundtrack that includes a cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” from Nigerian singer Tem mixed with a Kendrick Lamar sample of “Alright.” In addition, Grammy-award-winning artist Rihanna recorded two original songs for the film.
The film centers around the battle of Wakanda vs. Talokan — bringing back the heroic cast from the first film on Team Wakanda (Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Basset, and more) along with a new cast introduced from Kingdom Talokan (helmed by Alex alongside Tenoch Huerta and Mitzi Mabel Cadena).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters now.