--- description: "There's a universality to the world that George Lucas created that makes it possible for this multicultural cast to exist without necessarily turning the universe on its head." title: Lupita Nyong’o: Why Diversity Thrives in the 'Star Wars' Universe image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0828ad40ef72d222/69887375e20a87acf0a8e732/gettyimages-496474948.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lupita Nyong’o: Why Diversity Thrives in the _Star Wars_ Universe ## Video: Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover [Watch (HLS stream): Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXrQmNTF.m3u8) (3:31)  _Published 2015-12-03. For the latest issue of TIME, Marco Grob photographed the cast members of_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 3, 2015 12:30 PM CUT  Actress Lupita Nyong'o attends Glamour's 25th Anniversary Women Of The Year Awards at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Nov. 9, 2015. Actress Lupita Nyong'o attends Glamour's 25th Anniversary Women Of The Year Awards at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Nov. 9, 2015.Gilbert Carrasquillo—FilmMagic by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 3, 2015 12:30 PM CUT Fresh off an Oscar win for her role in _12 Years a Slave_, Lupita Nyong’o is taking on an entirely new challenge: She plays alien Maz Kanata via motion capture in the upcoming _Star Wars_ sequel, _The Force Awakens_. Nyong’o recently spoke with TIME about her role and why the storied fantasy franchise has thrived because of its diverse assortment of actors. “I think you can tell from the cast that it is a lot more multicultural. One of the things I remember as a child connecting with _Star Wars_ is one of the characters spoke Kikuyu, which is a Kenyan language. And I remember feeling like that made _Star Wars_ mine, it made _Star Wars_ Kenyan for all I was concerned,” she said. “There’s a universality to the world that George Lucas created that makes it possible for this multicultural cast to exist without necessarily turning the universe on its head. By very nature and with all sorts of creatures, it is, I think, a universe that is made for a multicultural experience.” **Read next:** * [Carrie Fisher on the Importance of Princess Leia Aging](http://time.com/4124142/princess-leia-age/ "undefined") * [Gwendoline Christie on Why Her Star Wars Costume Is a ‘Step Forward’ for Women](http://time.com/4129483/gwendoline-christie-star-wars-the-force-awakens-captain-phasma-costume/ "undefined") * [The 10 Most Fascinating _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_ Fan Theories](http://time.com/4116403/star-wars-force-awakens-fan-theories/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/"},"headline":"Lupita Nyong’o: Why Diversity Thrives in the Star Wars Universe","datePublished":"2015-12-03T12:30:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:02:58.008Z","description":"\"There's a universality to the world that George Lucas created that makes it possible for this multicultural cast to exist\"","url":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/","keywords":["movies","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0828ad40ef72d222/69887375e20a87acf0a8e732/gettyimages-496474948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0828ad40ef72d222/69887375e20a87acf0a8e732/gettyimages-496474948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-496474948","caption":"Actress Lupita Nyong'o attends Glamour's 25th Anniversary Women Of The Year Awards at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Nov. 9, 2015.","creditText":"Gilbert Carrasquillo—FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/","name":"Lupita Nyong’o: Why Diversity Thrives in the Star Wars Universe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover","description":"For the latest issue of TIME, Marco Grob photographed the cast members of","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KXrQmNTF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-03T11:59:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXrQmNTF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/","duration":"PT3M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4132884/lupita-nyongo-star-wars-the-force-awakens-diversity/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```