Lupita Nyong'o set for Broadway debut amid Oscar diversity issues

NEW YORK (WABC) -- In a year when talk of diversity has dominated the Academy Award headlines, one former winner brings an especially relevant perspective to the discussion.

Lupita Nyong'o -- 2014's Best Supporting Actress winner -- is set to make her Broadway debut in "Eclipsed," though we must warn you the play is for adults only because of the nature of her role. It's another milestone in the career of this star, who seemed to come out of nowhere a couple of years ago.

And her unforgettable Oscar moment has led to new opportunities.

"After the '12 Years a Slave' and the Academy Awards and everything, all the blessings that came with that, I was asking myself, what next?" she said. "And for me, theater has always been my backbone, and I wanted to get back to that backbone."

She first encountered "Eclipsed" as a student at the Yale Drama School, having recently arrived from Kenya.

"'Eclipsed' fed me in a way that was so special and meaningful," she said. "And I felt like I would like to share it with other people."

She plays one of a group of women held as sex slaves during a civil war in the African nation of Liberia, and last year, she earned rave reviews in the play at the public theater. The same cast now moves uptown to Broadway, where her first glimpse of the marquee was posted on Instagram.

She is part of a trend towards greater diversity on what used to be called the Great White Way. "Hamilton" is a hit for the ages, and "The Color Purple" continues to pack in crowds.

"I think it's reflective of the world we live in, which is diverse," she said. "I think there's room for all of us to embrace inclusion."

For the second straight year, all of Oscar's acting nominees are white. But this past winner approves of recent moves by the Academy to increase diversity and owns her part in the discussion.

"What I want to do for myself is to use the little weight that I have to tell stories that would otherwise perhaps not see the light of day," she said.

And Nyong'o will soon appear in another one of those stories -- a new movie called "Queen Katwe" about a young girl from Uganda who because a chess champion.