The woman king has been a success since its release in mid-September. The film, from director Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis, surpassed $75 million at the box office, with a 94% critic and a 99% audience rating on Rotten tomatoes. The film is based on the kingdom of Dahomey, which was prominent from the early 1600s to 1904. The woman king focused on the Agoji, an all-female group of warriors who protected the kingdom in the late 1800s.
Lupita Nyong’o was initially set to star in the film, a role that Lashana Lynch presumably took over after her departure. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress briefly discussed her departure and said there was no ill will towards anyone in the cast or crew. “It was very amicable, its departure,” Nyong’o explains regarding: The woman king. “But I felt it wasn’t the part for me to play.”
Nyong’o has no trouble finding roles, of course, as she’s one of Hollywood’s bigger names. In 2015, she did the motion capture and voice work for Maz Kanata, appearing in all three Star Wars sequel trilogy movies. Three years later she would start her role as Nakia in Black Pantherreturning for the upcoming sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 12 years slave, U.Sand Queen of Katwe are just a few other films featuring appearances by Nyong’o. Fans missed her presence in The woman kingthough the star cast was able to carry on without her involvement.
Lupita Nyong’o made a documentary about the Agoji warriors
As the THR report states, in 2019 Lupita Nyong’o filmed a documentary about the Agoji warriors as she traveled through Benin. In Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o, the actress learns about the all-female warriors and their involvement in the slave trade and ensuing violence. During an interview with gal-dem in the same year the documentary was released, Nyong’o shared her feelings for the Agoji woman and some of her issues with their history.
“The Agoji women were involved in the slave trade and that has changed the dynamics and polarization of Benin to this day,” Nyong’o says. “On the one hand, they are a symbol of the power of the feminine, but they are also the pain… they caused the pain.” It is possible that her time is filming Warrior Women urged her to step back from The woman kingalthough the actress has yet to go into much detail.
Fans can see Lupita Nyong’o in her next upcoming movie, the highly anticipated MCU entry Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverRelease in theaters on November 11.