The Woman King, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, has received positive reviews and has done well at the box office, however Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o declined a role in the film. Nyong’o has now revealed the reasons she turned down the role of an Agojie warrior.
Lupita Nyong’o who participated in the short documentary “Warrior Women With Lupita Nyong’o” about the Agojie tribe, said of her departure from the project, “It was very amicable, the departure from it, but I felt it wasn’t the role for me to play.” The 39-year old lady was unwilling to provide any further information.
In The Woman King, Viola Davis plays Nanisca, a commander who, from the 17th to the 19th century, tries to maintain the West African kingdom of Dahomey by training the next generation of soldiers to battle against their foes. The Agojie tribe was involved in the slave trade, and some people have advocated for a boycott of the film on social media for this reason.
Davis, who is also a producer on the picture, responded to the criticism last month by stating “I agree with Gina Prince-Bythewood’s saying you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter. We entered the story where the kingdom was in flux, at a crossroads. They were looking to find some way to keep their civilization and kingdom alive. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that they were decimated. Most of the story is fictionalized. It has to be.”
To far, The Woman King has earned approximately $76 million throughout the world.
