Lupita Nyong'o is the March cover girl for Marie Claire magazine and the Oscar-winning actress opened up about how she decided to treat herself after the success of "Black Panther."
"I went on a 10-day silent retreat. It was a gift. I did it for my birthday," says Nyong'o, whose birthday falls on March 1. "And it was the best gift because, the thing is, my job has two main parts. There’s the acting, and there’s the celebrity. And the celebrity involves a lot of giving."
(MORE: 2019 Oscar nominations: 'Roma,' 'The Favourite' lead, 'Black Panther' also scores big)She added, "After talking so much, and just expend, expending, expending, to sit with myself and just listen. Our lives are so full of distractions; you go from one distraction to another.”
(MORE: 'Green Book,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Roma' take home major awards at 2019 Golden Globes)Getting away allowed Nyong'o to refuel and focus.
“It was like clarity," she said. "And I was just, like, wow. I imagine that people sometimes get that from drugs. But it was really nice to get that just from spending time with myself.”
Nyong'o also dished on her upcoming film from "Get Out" director Jordan Peele. The actress said working with Peele actually brought her to tears.
“[Peele] asked me, ‘What is your process as an actor? What do you need from a director?'" she said. "And I just started to cry. I was like, ‘I’ve never been asked that before.’ I could just tell in that question was a man who understood what it meant to be an actor."
Marie Claire’s March 2019 issue featuring Nyong'o hits newsstands Feb 19.