Lupita Nyong’o revealed how she was able to get clearance from Taylor Swift to be able to use smash-hit Shake It Off in her 2019 film Little Monsters.
The 41-year-old Kenyan-Mexican actress – who stunned in a Prada catsuit earlier this week – had tears running down her face as she was a guest on the latest episode of Hot Ones on Thursday.
Lupita had an emotional draw to 34-year-old Taylor’s 2014 hit and really wanted it to be featured in her comedy horror film so she took matters into her own hands.
She told host Sean Evans: ‘When they came and they told me “aw, no we can’t get the rights” I decided okay.
Lupita Nyong’o revealed how she was able to get clearance from Taylor Swift to be able to use smash-hit Shake It Off in her 2019 film Little Monsters
Lupita had an emotional draw to 34-year-old Taylor’s 2014 hit and really wanted it to be featured in her comedy horror film so she took matters into her own hands; Taylor is seen in the Shake It Off music video
‘I’m going to go, I’m going to make a pitch, I’m going to let Taylor know what this song means to me and I told her that story about how it lifted me from an almost depression and the next thing I knew, it was cleared.’
The Taylor track played a crucial part in Little Monsters as the film ended with a touching moment as it played in the background.
Lupita had previously talked about how the song had helped her go through a hard time as back in January 2019 she spoke with reporters at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, revealing how the hit buoyed her spirits amid a rough patch in her career.
‘I was going through a hard time professionally, and I was just in a funk,’ said Nyong’o.
The 12 Years A Slave star said that at the time she ‘was working abroad’ and her ‘best friend came to cheer’ her up amid her doldrums.
‘He played Shake It Off on his phone,’ she said, ‘and we just had a dance party in my bedroom.’
The Academy Award winner said that it ‘meant a lot’ to her that the track was included in the movie – which she had a hand in making happen after learning that filmmakers were having a difficult time obtaining the rights to the pop track.
‘I wrote Taylor Swift myself and asked her and told her that story – and she said yes!’ said the Kenyan-Mexican beauty, who in the film plays a teacher named Miss Caroline who plays the song on a ukulele to keep the children calm.
She told host Sean Evans: ‘When they came and they told me “aw, no we can’t get the rights” I decided okay. ‘I’m going to go, I’m going to make a pitch, I’m going to let Taylor know what this song means to me and I told her that story about how it lifted me from an almost depression and the next thing I knew, it was cleared’
The Taylor track played a crucial part in Little Monsters (pictured) as the film ended with a touching moment as it played in the background
Lupita can be seen in her latest flick A Quiet Place: Day One which is in theaters now. It is a prequel to 2018’s A Quiet Place and 2020’s A Quiet Place Part II
Lupita talked being silent in the film: ‘When you don’t have lines and everything is in the nuance of bodily and facial expression, you have to listen in every take in a way more like nuanced way, so it makes it more exciting actually. I found it very liberating’
Lupita can be seen in her latest flick A Quiet Place: Day One which is in theaters now. It is a prequel to 2018’s A Quiet Place and 2020’s A Quiet Place Part II.
The film is centered around her character Sam who finds herself trapped in New York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultrasonic hearing.
She opened up on Hot Ones about what it was like playing a silent role.
Lupita explained: ‘When you don’t have lines and everything is in the nuance of bodily and facial expression, you have to listen in every take in a way more like nuanced way, so it makes it more exciting actually. I found it very liberating.’