Lupita Nyong’o developed a vocal cord polyp due to the “super-positive voice” she used to play a robot in her upcoming film.
Lupita Nyong’o developed a vocal cord polyp due to the ‘super-positive voice’ she used to play a robot in her upcoming film
The 41-year-old actress said she was forced to rest her voice for three months after she strained herself during her work on ‘The Wild Robot’ portraying cyborg Roz and its journey to finding “humanity”.
She said on ‘Late Night with Seth Myers’: “(Roz) goes through this journey to finding, I guess, what we would call humanity, like empathy.
“And so at the start of the movie, I chose to do this very, kind of like, super-positive voice.
“And it was, like, just not in my vocal register, which is a lot lower.
“I did it for way too long over a number of days, and I got a vocal polyp.”
Vocal cord lesions are defined as noncancerous growths that may form on one or both vocal cords.
Lupita added hers was so severe she “lost my ability to speak”, adding: “My doctor put me on vocal rest, and I was on vocal rest for three months.”
She also said she was scheduled to have surgery, but when her doctor told her 35 per cent of people recover naturally from the condition she “was so determined to be part of that 35%”.
Lupita said: “And I did. I cured myself.”
Among the other celebrities to recover from vocal injuries are Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and Adele.
Lupita said she didn’t let her inability to speak stop her from going to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ show.
Seth said during their chat about her going to the stars’ gigs: “You had to wear a note that said, ‘I am on a vocal rest.’
Lupita added: “Yeah, I made that at home.
“Sometimes people thought I was being rude because I wouldn’t say anything.
“So then I just thought, ‘Okay. Let me let people know what's going on, and that way, they’ll have sympathy for me instead of hatred.’”
Tagged in Adele Celine Dion Miley Cyrus