Lupita Nyong’o has exited Apple TV+’s limited series adaptation Lady in the Lake. The series which was first announced in March 2021 is currently in production and in search of a new co-lead for Natalie Portman who’s also the executive producer.
Lady in the Lake is an adaptation of Laura Lippman’s novel of the same name. The limited series takes place in 1960s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (Portman) to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist and sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood, a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda. Nyong’o was meant to take on the role of Cleo.
In addition to Portman, Lady in the Lake also stars Insecure’s Y’Lan Noel, Scream’s Mikey Madison, and Brett Gelman (Stranger Things).
While it’s not clear why she left the project, this is the second time that Nyong’o has dropped out of a high profile project in two years. In 2020, the Kenyan actress exited Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah adaptation at HBO Max due to scheduling conflicts.
Nyongo’s upcoming projects now include The 355, the all-star female-led spy thriller that also stars Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz and Fan Bingbing; and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to Marvel’s Black Panther where Nyong’o reprises her role as Nakia.
