they belong to us we owe it to ourselves
to try and realize them you learn so
much more when you are taking things
personally every day you have to show up
and like you have to focus on the thing
what’s that belief nation that’s heaven
my one word is believe and I believe in
you I believe you have an amazing gift
inside you that I want to see explode
out onto the world so let’s get your
motivation to attend and get you
believing in you grab a snack and chew
in today’s lessons from a woman who grew
up in Kenya and feared acting because of
outside forces to becoming the first
Kenyan to win an Academy Award
she’s Lupita Nuno and here’s my take on
let’s kick things off with rule number
one ignore the naysayers when I watched
the color purple and saw Oprah and
Whoopi Goldberg a seed was planted in my
heart to be an actor but I dared not
water it in public you see being an
actor wasn’t an honorable thing to do
especially not for a politician’s
daughter
it was thing it’s something that a child
did and grown-up children did but not
anyone else
I pursued acting opportunities on the
side and as long as it was
extracurricular and not my focus it felt
safe and acceptable mind you my parents
never put any pressure on me to be one
thing or another but it was the
expectations from the larger society
that kept me ashamed of the real desire
of my heart and so I got down to the
most important work figuring out what
steps would get me to being an actor the
actor I wanted so badly to be I had an
action plan something to work towards
getting into the Yale School of Drama
for acting training to go after my goal
to attend the Yale School of Drama meant
that I would have to confront my fear of
failure of not being good enough as I
boarded the plane to the US there were
naysayers in my head telling me I was
crazy that I shouldn’t even bother over
900 people audition for 15 spots each
year and yet there was a part of me that
knew I could do it even when the part of
me that said it was impossible was
louder our dreams arise from our
imaginations they belong to us we owe it
to ourselves to try and realize them to
encourage myself I wrote in my diary on
the 23rd 3rd of August 2008 I have this
dream too and desire to be an actor and
it dwarfs me but it is my dream god damn
it I made it up how can what I dream
defeat me
to stay fresh Yale was those three years
were the best years of my school life
hands down and at the beginning of
course I was like first of all how on
earth did I get hit and but the Dean
gave this talk of a first orientation
talk and he talked about the imposter
syndrome and how everyone in the room
was probably going through that feeling
like I don’t I tricked them into getting
here and he was reassuring us that we
were all going through it and indeed I
was sitting next to my classmates and
some of us broke down crying because we
think yes I thought I was on my own but
no we’re together you know it was just
it was so reassuring to recognize that
almost every artist feels that way and
that therefore you’re not as unique as
you think you are and that’s a good
thing
you know they often feel that way even
after years of oh yeah always always and
the thing about acting is that you’re
always taking on new stuff you’re taking
on a new role so just as soon as you
feel like an expert in something you
have to leave it and go on to a totally
new thing and be and be ignorant and
curious and yeah fresh again and that’s
what’s so wonderful it’s it’s what’s
wonderful and what’s extremely
frustrating about about about this
business rule number three live in the
moment there are a lot of brutal moments
in this film and one particularly
harrowing moment is when you are whipped
by both your slave master in Salomon
talk to us about how you prepared to
play that scene emotionally and mentally
and I know the evening before was very
difficult for you talk to us about that
well yeah so the evening before I shot
that scene we done another scene in
which I needed that the whips the the
scars from before Patsy is that epic
whipping and it had taken four hours to
do those scars and so when I looked at
the call sheet for the next day I saw
that it was gonna be six hours in the
makeup chair and I was just like I’m not
doing that so I suggested to Khaled av
the makeup artist that I remain with the
scars on my back so that we cut our work
in half for the next day’s work
I went home with these scars on my back
and I I could only sleep on my belly
because I didn’t want to mess them up
and they just haunted me you know they
were so present and I was so
uncomfortable and I had trouble sleeping
the whole time I was doing 12 years a
slave but that night I got even less
sleep but it occurred to me as I was
weeping in the night that my discomfort
was temporary and patsies wasn’t and it
still makes me cry and I had been given
this privilege to bring her back to life
and it just quieted my soul and prepared
me for the next day’s work is it
emotionally hard to still now disconnect
yourself with everything that you felt
while filming I mean I feel you know the
best of Patsy remains it hmm the lessons
I learned about the value of presence
and being in the present moment I feel
like that lesson is what’s helping me
survive this season Patsy had to live in
the present moment because she had a
master that was a volatile and dangerous
so she had to be prepared for anything
at anytime and that lesson living in the
moment was just reinforced for me and so
that remains rule number four write down
your goals and dreams for do not
underestimate the power of writing your
dreams and goals down right before I got
cast in 12 years of slave I wrote in my
diary what kind of work I wanted to do I
envisioned this was on May 4th 2012 that
I wanted to make meaningful films that
effect change in people’s understanding
of and commitment to the world we live
in I also wrote that I wanted to visit
New Orleans for a week on May 13th
I booked 12 years a slave and on June
6th I would be in Louisiana working on
the film for five weeks
rule number five be authentic a lot of
people look at you as a symbol of black
girl healing in a lot of ways and I
think sometimes when you hold such a
high standard I say what I believe in
and and so it doesn’t feel like labor it
actually feels like an opportunity you
know and I I I’m it touches me when
people say I say these things about what
I mean I didn’t seek that I didn’t that
was not my intention but I feel that you
know like Fiona in this story her
intention was to play chess she couldn’t
have known that she would pull her
family out of poverty by doing that she
also couldn’t have known that she would
give me a job by playing chess and yet
she has and so I think when you follow
your dream you follow your passion you
have so much more use than you even
realize you’re gonna be and so for me
when you say that to me it’s just a
encouragement for me to keep going doing
the thing I love which is acting and
that has given me a platform to say
things and and be things to people way
more than the thing that I’m passionate
about well number six find your path I
always love to perform I was the child
who preferred to sit in my cupboard in
the closet and play with my Barbies in
the dark and then go outside didn’t like
ride a bike yeah I loved make-believe
and my mom tells the story about when I
was like three I hadn’t even been to
school yet but she had a guest over and
I spun this tale about how I went to
school and what I dad had for lunch and
what uniform I wore and who had played
with and everything I remember there was
just like this child is bound to be in
the performing arts yeah so it was an
early
passion and then it wasn’t until I
watched the color purple that I thought
oh maybe I could do this from in my life
because you know it was like people that
looked like me and I remember Whoopi
Goldberg especially really moved me and
yeah that was the first time that I
thought oh maybe I could be an actor but
it took a while before I actually
uttered it out loud and said that that’s
what I wanted to do number seven reach
out to your stretcher-bearers reach out
to your stretcher-bearers this is a
concept I carried with me from high
school bible teaching it speaks of a
time when Jesus was teaching a crowd of
people that had come from all over some
men came late carrying their paralyzed
friend on a stretcher it was so crowded
around Jesus so they decided to go up on
the roof
take out the tiles and lower the man
into the middle of the crowd in front of
Jesus when Jesus saw their faith and how
much love they had he cured the man
instantly of his paralysis my teacher in
her message encouraged us to make sure
we too had those stretcher bearers in
our lives at least for people who would
carry us to healing and safety when we
can’t do it for ourselves the people who
will remind you that you are not alone
when your emotions get the best of you
emotionally the gem or the treasure that
is acting is that you actually get to
put your self in someone else’s shoes
and there is a the it I learned you
learned so much more when you are taking
things personally and so for me to have
to take slavery personally is something
that I can never unlearn you know and I
had learned about slavery theoretically
analytically but what 12 years a slave
gave me was to learn about it
emotionally and physically and that kind
of learning is so deep and you know I
just went to the
the opening of the National Museum of
african-american history and culture and
you know walking through the halls and
visiting revisiting slavery and going up
to emancipation civil rights and all
that and ending up in a room where
Patsy’s dress is on display I mean it
it’s so alive for me and it it I into
that history at that time and I will
never be the same again you know and I
think that’s what’s so powerful about
cinema is that you can actually have a
moment to take someone else’s life
personally and and in doing so hopefully
it encourages empathy and you know and
that we share a humanity and we can
share in those experiences in a very
real and tangible way and hopefully draw
closer to each other number nine
work hard doing a play takes stamina and
because you have to do the whole thing
every single day and you have to do it
like you’ve never done it before and
that’s why I wanted to do a play because
it makes you it brings you know a
regimen and it just is a good workout
for acting and so with black panther one
of the things that I needed stamina for
was the fighting that all the the
physical challenge and so I went
straight into we went into a six-week
boot camp and it came in very handy you
know that kind of like diligence just
you know get there and do the work and
it also helped me get over the fact that
I was part of black panther you know
because it takes work every day you have
to show up and like you have to focus on
the thing you’re doing you have to focus
on that one ring baton and what it’s
doing so yeah I’d say stamina I’m really
retaining the last one before some very
special bonus clips have fun the
category is animals and you’re gonna act
out animals you can’t talk okay I just
have to move and be an animal that I’m
gonna guess and so you’ll stand up if I
do yeah I’m gonna you can make noises
are you getting serious
oh you’re a kangaroo no you’re a bunny
yes okay elephant very good at this oh
you’re a pig yes mmm a flamenco ostrich
a giraffe
[Applause]
your IRB
now I’ve got three very special bonus
clips from Lupita about working in a
great environment opening yourself up
for failure and fighting for equality
but before that I want you to make a
commitment of the day
don’t just watch another video and
continue on with your day if you were
moved by this in any stretch write down
in the comments below how you’re going
to commit yourself to changing your life
or your business leave it down below I’m
really curious to find out thank you
guys so much for watching I believe in
you I hope you continue to believe in
yourself and whatever your one word is
much love I’ll see you soon and enjoy
acting is not like math where there is
only one correct answer to the problem
and once you’ve figured out the formula
you’re all set in acting like in life
sometimes coming up with the wrong
answer to the problem is the best way to
figure out the formula for yourself in
acting school you are expected to fail
and fail publicly a lot it is the
constant exposure to failure that frees
you from the strongholds of the ego and
allows you to embrace vulnerability and
it is an embracing vulnerability that
you can surprise yourself in performance
and share something really special about
human nature without the possibility of
being bad you will never be
extraordinary and so I resolved to
operate from a sense of self that was
louder than my critic and faster than my
worry it is only in that space that you
can truly be free and innovate
Michael is fire and ShoreTel is water
and both elements are intriguing
mysterious and dangerous and that was
what it was like working with another
thing that’s why they make such good
they make such good scene partners
because they have such different
energies you know Michael anything
happening with Michael at any time so he
keeps you on your feet and with to tell
especially with this character he’s
playing he had he was he was grounded
and he was still and he was present he
was focused and he was calm and I think
he really did set the culture on the set
you know then allowed it for us to do
this with ease he’s also a very
efficient actor you know so with both of
them you know you go in and you go in
110 percent and then you come out and
you’re totally out and you’re going
paintballing and and you know and
and dancing and stuff like that so it
was good to have that kind of work ethic
where we’re fully focused for the time
in which we’re making bringing the story
back to life and then we leave it I
don’t remember ever talking about the
the story like the script very little
very little did we speak about the
script off set and yeah it was about
just trusting that we were each doing
our individual work and then coming full
to like let go and give the scene just
don’t freeze it was such a breath of
fresh air you know to see men and women
occupying they’re just living in their
power without one dwarfing the other and
to me it was just like a reflective of
the fact that sexism is learned at the
end of the day and everything that comes
with it you know and so to see an
example of a society that’s not it
doesn’t have that the gender is not the
fabric with which society is built
necessarily you know that it’s
functioning wholesomely
you know in the delineation of sex are
not that oppressive and
and that’s really cool and it’s possible
[Music]
the most important work ever if you had
to think of one word that’s most
important to you that sums you Apple so
it would be like a little beacon pay
believe nation if you want to know what
the most important one word is for Tony
Robbins Gary Vaynerchuk
Oprah Winfrey will.i.am and Howard
Schultz I have a very special secret
video for you check the description for
details [Music]