“I’m very connected to this experience. Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians were taken to America, Louisiana, the Caribbean and South America. I felt that. I felt that it was, and was always going to be, an international story anyways. Always. And Steve McQueen [who was also raised in London] he mentioned that his family is from the West Indies. And, of course, the slave trade in the West Indies was an extraordinary event. I think everyone in the African diaspora is connected to these issues,” Ejiofor explains. “So telling this story felt like a responsibility. And the wider aspect of this, about what it says about human respect and human dignity. Ninety-seven to 98 percent of the people working on this film were Americans. It’s an American story, but it has a wider impact. I felt it was always correct that there was an international element to the movie because [there] was an international element to these events.”
Speaking of being connected to this event, Nyong’o said the meeting with the descendants of Solomon Northup caressed her soul.
“It was incredible to be in a room full of people who had Solomon’s blood coursing through their veins,” she said, her words thick with wonderment and her eyes registering awe. “And then the people and their contemporaries. Some of them were meeting [each other] for the first time. I felt privileged to be part of this family reunion. Very excited that their story was going to be shared with a larger audience. I look forward to them seeing the film and talking to them some more.”
