How Taylor Swift's Music Helped Lupita Nyong'o Get Out of a "Funk"

See what the Oscar winner shared about her connection to "Shake It Off"

Taylor Swift's music helped Lupita Nyong'o shake off a funk she was going through.

Earlier this week, the Oscar winner opened up about facing a "hard time professionally" while at a screening of her new film, Little Monsters, at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Lupita, who performs "Shake It Off" with a ukulele in the movie, shared with screening attendees why the song means so much to her.

"I was going through a hard time professionally, and I was just in a funk," she explained. "I was working abroad, and my best friend came to cheer me up. He played 'Shake It Off' on his phone, and we just had a dance party in my bedroom."

Lupita went on to say that it meant "a lot" to her that the song was in the movie. So when she heard the film was having a hard time getting the rights to it, she wrote T.Swift herself.

"I wrote Taylor Swift myself and asked her, and told her that story," Lupita shared. "And she said yes!"

Lupita arrived in Utah for the festival just days after attending the 2019 SAG Awards, where she and her Black Panther co-stars won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

It was just last week that Black Panther scored seven nominations for the 2019 Oscars, becoming the first-ever superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture. The film also scored nods for Best Original Score, Best Original Song for "All the Stars," Production Design, Costume Design, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

Find out how you can see Black Panther for free in February HERE!