Lupita Nyong’o Dishes About That Time Ralph Fiennes Told Her He Just Needed His Space

Oscar winning actress tells about her time as a production assistant on The Constant Gardener

By Peanut Alvarez-Mena Dec 01, 2015 12:31 AMTags

Who would ever tell Lupita Nyong'o that she's being a bother?!

Before she was the stylish Academy Award-winning actress we know her as today, the glamorous star was an eager student doing all that she could to break through in the movie industry.

The Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress tells Rhapsody magazine about her time as a production assistant on the set of The Constant Gardener back in 2005, where she was responsible for escorting Ralph Fiennes to set every day. As someone serious about the craft would do, Nyong'o took the job as an opportunity to pick the Oscar-nominated actor's brain and learn all that she could about his experience in the industry.

"I was on a mission to talk to Ralph, but he was talking to some man," she tells the magazine. "I went up to them, and suddenly the assistant director was white in the face with rage. He said, ‘You never interrupt the director!' I didn't even know who the director was!"

Greg Allen/Invision/AP

Lupita dishes on how she observed Fiennes' preparation for the role and noticed he is a "very still man on set."

"I'd try to make chitchat, asking, 'What's your favorite film? Of all the films you've been in, which have you enjoyed the most?' He was so polite, and he responded to me. At one point, though, he just said, 'Lupita, give me my space.'"

The eager kid who started off making coffee runs and escorting actors to set would go on to graduate from Yale School of Drama and win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 12 Years a Slave—her feature film debut!

So now Ralph Fiennes may be the one who has to take a number if he wants to chat with her.

Watch: Lupita Nyong'o Pleads the Fifth on "Star Wars" Role