When Lupita Nyong'o finished her new movie The Wild Robot, she was compelled to make one phone call.

I recently had one of the best 4am wake-up calls of my life.

Why? Well because on this day (before the crack of dawn), I was scheduled to interview one of my favourite actors of all time—Lupita Nyong'o.

For some backstory, my admiration for Lupita goes back to 2013 when she starred in the film 12 Years a Slave. 

She went on to win an Academy Award for the role, and her acceptance speech brought me (and many others) to tears. I remember that moment so clearly, watching her walk up on stage in her beautiful princess-y baby blue dress. On that night she brought her brother with her as her plus one and they both appeared in Ellen Degeneres' famous Oscar selfie.

In her speech she said a line that went completely viral… "When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid."

And now, I was about to interview her.

Watch: The trailer for Lupita Nyong'o's new movie The Wild Robot trailer. Post continues below.

Lupita's new movie, which is out now, is called The Wild Robot. In the animated film, she plays 'Roz' a type of helper robot whose sole purpose is to take orders and carry out tasks. The shipment Roz was stored in get's lost in transit and ends up at a remote forest filled with wildlife.

Roz attempts to help the wild animals she encounters with their "tasks", only to be ostracised. She then comes across a gosling which she names Bright Bill and with the help of a sneaky fox voiced by Pedro Pascal, she sets off to complete her first task— To teach Bright Bill to fly before the geese have to migrate for winter.

When preparing for the role, Lupita said she looked to some surprising places for inspiration.

"Roz had a promise of being vocally, very dynamic," she said. "She starts off being in her factory settings, and, in a sense, being simple minded because she's new to this environment. She's got a lot to learn. Her story is really about her growing up and growing into the mother that she can be.

[The director] Chris Sanders said that he really loved the warmth of my voice and how nurturing my voice sounds so we knew where we would end up, and the question is, how we were gonna get there?

I was inspired by the automated sounds of Siri and Alexa and those automated voices on TikTok and Instagram."

Now, I'm going to be honest with you, there hasn't been a single animation that has made me tear up at multiple times throughout the movie as I did while watching The Wild Robot. 

The film explores themes of motherhood and humanity (even though there aren't any human characters it in at at). After watching it, I immediately called my mum straight away, a story that I shared with my new bestie Lupita during our interview. To my absolute surprise and delight, she said that she did the exact same thing (no biggie).

"This is unconventional in the space of the moving animation because usually, the mother figure is missing," she said. "You think of Bambi and The Lion King [where] the parents are often missing from the adventure… And in this story, the parent is the adventure."

Just an Academy Award winning actor and her fan girl. 

She continues saying, "We get to witness what it means when your job is to make sure that this being can leave you. It's a heartbreaking thing, and it actually made me call my mom and thank her for having the courage to let me go.

She let me go at 16. I was just so floored by her faith in her own parenting and in me that I would be able to make it on my own."

Yes, this film is an animation but don't be fooled. I personally think The Wild Robot is just as much for adults as it is for kids. Lupita reminded me that not only was I shedding many tears during the film but I was also cackling at the "adult" jokes made.

"It has a lot of dark humor. Characters get to say all the things that parents are not allowed to say and that's so much fun. It's so irreverent to hear those things."

If you can't tell by this piece, I left our interview on a metaphorical high.

You can listen to Emily Vernem's full interview with Lupita Nyong'o on The Spill here. 

The Wild Robot is in cinemas now. 

If you want more culture opinions by Emily Vernem, you can follow her on Instagram @emilyvernem

Feature image: Getty