culture

Lupita Nyong’o Says Interviews Are ‘Torture’

“A Quiet Place: Day One” - London Photocall
Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Lupita Nyong’o would like everyone to know that she isn’t a fan of being interviewed. Nyong’o told Glamour — during an interview — that the thing she dislikes most about being an actor is having to answer questions from reporters.

Nyong’o, who is Glamour’s June cover star, clarified that she doesn’t hate all interviews but feels like press junkets, where “different people are being ferried in” to ask the same questions, are a “torture technique.” She said during these kinds of Q&As, she has to give each journalist “attention, focus, and an articulate answer” that she just gave to the interviewer before: “That’s irritating.”

She’s not alone in her frustration. In February, Cillian Murphy told GQ that the junket process is “a broken model” where everyone gets “bored.” He’d prefer to let movies and his acting do the talking. “It’s like Joanne Woodward said,” he said. “‘Acting is like sex — do it, don’t talk about it.’”

Maybe the future holds fewer Nyong’o interviews, but fans can at least count on her to keep delivering memorable red-carpet looks, which she told Glamour she loves. “My life before the launch of my career did not involve a lot of ball gowns,” Nyong’o said. “Now I wear so many, and I love it.”

Lupita Nyong’o Says Interviews Are ‘Torture’