Queen of Katwe's Madina Nalwanga Credits Lupita Nyong'o With Help in Hollywood

Madina Nalwanga stars in Disney’s newest film, Queen of Katwe, and shines up on the big screen.

The up and coming actress recently spoke to NPR, alongside co-star Lupita Nyong’o, and credits her with help on the movie and in Hollywood.

“Lupita, she really helped me, like, to get into the character all the time,” Madina explains. “I could see her getting ready to be the character and then I copied her. I would copy everything that she does, but in a silent way because I never wanted her to see me doing what she was doing. … We had tough scenes whereby we have to cry. And it was kind of hard to me to cry, but I saw her getting ready – she was exercising all the time.”

Madina added about her first premiere, “It wasn’t so easy for me hearing all these people calling my name. … Please do this, do that. I wasn’t used to that. I’ve never dreamt of standing on that red carpet. Actually what I knew about the red carpet – it’s just a carpet that is supposed to be inside the house. … These are all new things to my eyes.”

Queen of Katwe is out now in theaters.