It was in March this year, soon after the Oscars, that we told you about actress Lupita Nyong’o’s connection with Mira Nair -- she studied at the Maisha Lab in Uganda, a film school established by the filmmaker.
In a chat with Yahoo!’s Katie Couric on the sidelines of Glamour’s Woman of the Year event, the duo elaborated on the connection.
Nair revealed, ‘When I first met the man I fell desperately in love with: Mahmood (Mamdani, a Columbia University professor) my husband, he came into the room with Peter Nyong’o, who is Lupita’s father. So, I met Peter and the love of my life at the same moment. And as a result of us being together now for 25 years, I inherited with gratitude and great enjoyment, Lupita’s family, and therefore Lupita.'
Lupita added, ‘When I was an undergrad I was planning to focus on film. I was home for the summer, and I was talking to my parents about my interest in film, and my dad said, "You know what? I have a friend who’s married to a director." I said, "Who?" and he said, "her name is Mira Nair." I was just like, "Daddy... Mira Nair is a big deal. How could you not have told me that you have connections with Mira Nair?" I made him call Mahmood up and introduce me to Mira.'
But what was even more interesting in that Yahoo! video was a blink-and-you-miss line from Nair’s introduction of Lupita, who is the Glamour Woman of the Year, at the event.
She introduced the actress as the star of her next movie, Queen Of Katwe.
All we can tell you right now is that the film is based on the real life story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi, but stay tuned for more.
Photographs: Fred Prouser / Reuters
