The Oscar winner spills her comedy cravings, career confessions, and Swiftie tears in ELLE’s “Ask Me Anything”
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o is officially one of us: she’s obsessed with Abbott Elementary. In her new ELLE “Ask Me Anything” video, Lupita lights up when asked which role she’d take purely for fun — and without hesitation, she blurts out the hit ABC comedy.
From Abbott Elementary love to Odyssey-era fire, Lupita keeps the conversation graceful, sharp, and quietly iconic — exactly the kind of star presence that does not need to over-explain itself.
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“I would love to be on Abbott Elementary,” she gushes, calling the cast “so many clowns,” and singling out Ava Coleman as her chaotic favorite: “She’s so dumb in such an engaging way… offensively dumb. I love her.”
From there, Lupita dives into a full spectrum of candid, charming, and downright delightful revelations — and we pulled the best gems.
Her dream genre? Romantic comedy. Her dream co-star? Donald Glover.
Lupita admits she’s dying to do a rom-com, and she already has her ideal partner picked out: Donald Glover.
“He’s extremely talented… capable of being both really dramatic and funny,” she says. “For someone like me who hasn’t done many comedies, it’s good to have a partner who knows the ropes.”
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Her favorite character to revisit? Nakia — and the gym agrees.
She’d happily return to Nakia from Black Panther: “I feel like a badass when I’m playing her… and I’m also very fit. It’s a good reason to go to the gym.”
Her sentimental keepsakes include… a cardigan, scissors, and ring blades.
Lupita reveals she keeps:
- Her hand-knit cardigan from A Quiet Place: Day One
- A framed set of scissors from Us (a gift from Jordan Peele)
- Her rehearsal ring blades from Black Panther
And maybe a few more she’s “not ready to admit to.”
Her most surprising DM? Rihanna.
Yes — Rihanna once slid into her DMs to send hair inspiration. “It was just so sweet,” Lupita says. “It felt really good.”
What it’s like on a Christopher Nolan set
One word: Focused.
“No phones allowed,” she explains. “Everybody is paying attention… it feels potent.”
Her cat exposure therapy journey is Oscar-worthy on its own
For A Quiet Place: Day One, Lupita had to work with a cat — despite being terrified of them.
She describes studying their behavior (“Why is he doing that?”), working with a “cat lady” therapist, and slowly progressing from touching a paw… to cuddling… to adopting one.
Her style in one look: the 2025 Met Ball blue Chanel suit
Structured. Bold. Androgynous with softness. A cape “to the heavens.”
Her Eras Tour core memory with Sarah Paulson
Lupita attended the Taylor Swift tour with Sarah Paulson, who arrived as a self-described “Taylor Swift light.”
By mid-show?
“I looked over at her and she was weeping and she was like, ‘This is the best day ever.’ And I was like, ‘It is.’”
A perfect, wholesome Swiftie moment.
The moment she decided to become an actor
December 2008. A national park in Kenya. A notebook. A watering hole filled with elephants, giraffes, and antelope.
“I wrote it down: I want to be an actor.” Her mother’s response? “I’ve always known.”
Watch Lupita Nyong’o reveal her Abbott Elementary obsession for ELLE.
The full ELLE “Ask Me Anything” video features Lupita Nyong’o talking Abbott Elementary, Donald Glover, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Christopher Nolan, and the keepsakes she may or may not be ready to admit to.
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