The Internet was abuzz last week after news of Lupita Nyongo’s meeting with Star Wars director J.J. Abrams. She’s also reportedly in the running to play the lead in a film adaptation of Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning novel "Americanah." Dee Locket over at Slate explains why Nyong’o may be more than Hollywood’s latest "It" girl:
The fact that she was already taking meetings with J.J. Abrams before her Oscar win and only narrowly just lost out to Rooney Mara for the role of Tiger Lily in the next Peter Pan adaptation, though, suggests a possible attitude shift in Hollywood when it comes to the way it perceives women of color and their ability to carry a major-market film. Is it possible that Lupita won’t look back on her résumé in another 15 years only to find a long list of stereotypical supporting roles? If these castings rumors prove true, Nyong’o could get a shot at a career that rivals or even exceeds that of contemporaries like Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence. That, more than any Oscar, would surely validate her dreams.