Lupita Nyong’o on Star Wars: ‘I Didn’t Really Know What I Was Auditioning For’

Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, who plays the digitally animated pirate Maz Kanata in The Force Awakens, dropped by Ellen to discuss Star Wars for a Tuesday show. As the clip above teases, the actress’s motion-capture process sounded weirdly cool and her secret audition process sounded even weirder, cooler. “I didn’t really know what I was auditioning for, I knew I was going in for J.J.,” Nyong’o said of the experience, which happened the same week as her 12 Years a Slave Oscar. “There was a script from something else. … I remember crouching around and using my hands as a gun.” Find out when to tune in for Tuesday’s whole broadcast and to learn more, here.