Lupita Nyong’o Was Tricked Into Auditioning For ‘Force Awakens’

Lupita Nyong’o was quite a sight at the highly charged Hollywood premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Monday night.

The Mexican-born Kenyan actress looked regal in an out-of-this-world confection by Alexandre Vaulthier. When asked how she settled on her sparkly number, Nyong’o charmingly replied, “I thought I would bring the galaxy with me”.

The day after the festivities, she was on The Ellen DeGeneres show where she divulged some interesting details about how she scored the role of Maz Kanata, a pirate brought to life by the magic of CGI.

The audition was orchestrated to keep her in the dark so all she knew about the project was that director J.J. Abrams was at the helm.

It was right after her well-deserved Oscar for 12 Years a Slave and the pressure to remain as visible as possible propelled her to explore every opportunity.

The audition took place in 2014, and Nyong’o barely recalls the process but she does remember “crouching around and using her hands as a gun”.

It looks like that was enough to get her booked because two months later Abrams called with the news every actress wants to hear. And the rest is history.

To see Nyong’o and the rest of the cast in action – Dec. 18 is the day when Star Wars: The Force Awakens officially hits theaters.