Lupita Nyong'o Gave Herself a Vocal Cord Polyp Doing a 'Super-Positive' Voice in “The Wild Robot”

The Academy Award winner says she went on three months of vocal cord rest — but still went to see Taylor Swift and Beyoncé in concert

The “super-positive voice” Lupita Nyong’o used to play a robot in her upcoming animated film, The Wild Robot, put such a strain on her voice that she developed a vocal cord polyp and had to go on three months of vocal rest.

During an appearance the June 20 episode of Late Night with Seth Myers, the Academy Award winner shared that her character Roz, who is a robot, “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," she explained.

The upbeat voice ended up straining her vocal cords, the star of A Quiet Place: Day One shared.

“I did it for way too long over a number of days, and I got a vocal polyp.”

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“Benign vocal cord lesions are noncancerous growths that may form on one or both vocal cords,” the Cleveland Clinic explains, adding that they include nodules, cysts, and polyps, which Nyong’o developed. “Most lesions form because you’re overusing or misusing your vocal cords. Treatments include voice therapy, behavior changes to improve your vocal health and surgery.”

Nyong’o, 41, said she “lost my ability to speak, and my doctor put me on vocal rest, and I was on vocal rest for three months.”

She also shared that she was scheduled to have surgery, but when her doctor told her 35% of people recover naturally, “I was so determined to be part of that 35%. And I did. I cured myself.”

Related: Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and More Stars Who've Had to Bounce Back from Vocal Injuries

According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s not common to recover without surgery: "You’ll likely need surgery if you have a polyp or cyst. Unlike nodules, polyps and cysts don’t typically improve with voice therapy.”

Still, Nyong’o didn’t let her inability to speak keep her from hitting Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. She just went with some additional accessories.

“You had to wear a note that said, 'I am on a vocal rest,’ " Seth Meyers said.

“Yeah, I made that at home,” the Us star replied, adding that she “upgraded” to a button for Beyoncé.

Related: Lupita Nyong'o Says She's Ready to Be in a Rom-Com: 'Consider This My Open Application' (Exclusive)

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“Sometimes people thought I was being rude because I wouldn't say anything,” she shares, adding that she would wave and smile but not speak.

“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." 

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