Video: Lupita Nyong'o on Breaking Character During TWELFTH NIGHT Rehearsals
Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night will run August 7 through September 14, 2025.
By: Josh Sharpe Jul. 25, 2025
Lupita Nyong'o is having a hard time not breaking character during rehearsals for Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night. The Academy Award-winner is starring as Viola in the new production alongside Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh, which begins performances in August.
"I don't do a lot of comedy," Nyong'o shared during a recent visit to The Tonight Show. "So being in a room and just laughing all day, I'm wondering how I'm going to keep a straight face when we're finally performing!" She went on to explain how participating in this production gave her a chance to do something "lighter," which was appealing. Twelfth Night is also her favorite Shakespeare play.
"We had a VHS tape of it growing up, of some British performance, and I watched it over and over and over again," she recalled. "Twelfth Night is the easiest Shakespeare to understand, I think. And it's so funny. It's so ridiculous." Watch the full conversation now, where she also discusses working with her young brother Junior, who plays Sebastian in the show.
The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is set to open the newly renovated Delacorte Theater this August. The production will officially open on Thursday, August 21, and run through Sunday, September 14 and is directed by The Public’s Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director and Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali. It was recently announced that the production will be filmed for PBS and air this November.
The audience favorite follows the romantic misadventures of shipwrecked twins and stars Dario Alvarez (Ensemble), b (Antonio), John Ellison Conlee (Sir Toby Belch), Khris Davis (Orsino), Peter Dinklage (Malvolio), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Andrew Aguecheek), Jaina Rose Jallow (Ensemble), Ariyan Kassam (Curio/Ensemble), Valentino Musumeci (Ensemble), Junior Nyong'o (Sebastian), Lupita Nyong'o (Viola), Chinna Palmer (Ensemble), Sandra Oh (Olivia), Precious Omigie (Ensemble), Nathan M. Ramsey (Ensemble), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Maria), Jasmine Sharma (Ensemble), Moses Sumney (Feste), Kapil Talwakar (Ensemble), Joe Tapper (Sea Captain/Priest), Julian Tushabe (Ensemble), Adrian Villegas (Ensemble), Ada Westfall (Ensemble), and Mia Wurgaft (Ensemble). Check out rehearsal photos here.
