Lupita Nyong’o’s upcoming animated film with DreamWorks, “The Wild Robot,” in which she voices a shipwrecked robot tromping around a wild island, might be one for the mothers.
In the film, out in theaters Friday, Sept. 27, robot Roz, as voiced by Nyong’o, ends up responsible for a newly hatched duckling. The film’s story spans Roz’s attempts to raise the duckling while also learning the lay of the new land.
“For me, it was really coming to terms with how a parent’s job — a mother’s job — is to prepare her child to leave her. They have to feel safe in their parenting skills in order to let go,” Nyong’o said in an interview with the Washington Post.
The theme of motherhood in the film also caused the actress to think of her own parents, and when they sent her off to Mexico at the age of 16.
“They had instilled all the things in me,” she continued. “I was [taking] their love for granted at that point. For me, the trip to Mexico was all about me, and I never stopped to think about how hard it must have been for them to let me go.”
While Nyong’o was born to Kenyan parents in Mexico, she was raised in Kenya and later spent seven months in Mexico during her teenage years to learn Spanish.
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She added, “I called my mom up and thanked her for the strength to let me go, and the confidence and faith in her parenting skills to trust that I would be able to go survive on my own and make it back.”
Nyong’o also uses her experience living in Mexico to connect with her character Roz’s own foreignness on the island, where she ends up stranded. Over the course of the film, Roz has to embrace her new environment and get to know her surroundings.
“Though I was born [in Mexico], I felt very foreign,” she said of her time in Mexico to NBC News, adding, “What I’m proudest of is being able to adapt to my new environment, but still stay true to myself and hold on to my essence.”
To pull off the film, Nyong’o also had to wade into new waters, as this was her first starring role in an animated movie. The process was new to her, but she welcomed the challenge.
“You don’t get to do many lead roles in an animation,” she noted to the Washington Post. “This project offered me a really exciting vocal opportunity because of the evolution of this character. She literally finds her voice.”
Nyong’o’s character speaks in an unnatural, robotic tone similar to Siri or Alexa. However, mastering Roz’s robotic voice took a toll on her; the actress temporarily damaged her vocal cords in the process. While she was recovering, she shared in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that she attended Beyoncé and Taylor Swift concerts but was unable to sing along.
“It was torture,” she said.
Earlier this month, Nyong’o posted the trailer for the sentimental film on her Instagram.
In the caption, she wrote, “This movie is for everyone with a pulse! 🥹💗🫶🏿 And trust me: see it on the big screen 😊.”
