Why Mufasa’s Death in the OG Lion King Traumatized Folake Olowofoeka

Cheap flakes just like us when it comes to watching Mufasa’s heartbreaking death in 1994 The Lion King.

“After that first The Lion King (movie), I just never made myself emotionally available for any movie again,” Oluwafoekyu, 41, joked Us Weekly in an exclusive interview while promoting his new film, Mufasa: The Lion King. “After Moussafa’s death, I haven’t seen anything sadder in the original.”

The original The Lion King emotional for many people due to the tragic scene in which young Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) testifies to his father Mufasa (James Earl Jones ), gets into a stampede and dies at the hands of his evil uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons).

“I have never been to America in my life. And I remember being very emotionally affected by the death Mufasa, You know, it was such a great story,” Oluwafoekyu said us “And I already had cats at that time. family, pets. I still do. I do have a cat, her name is Aisha. And she looks like my heroine,” she said. “She’s also a white cat with blue eyes… It’s just a full-circle moment in so many different ways.

Mufasa: The Lion King serves as a sequel to the 2019 remake and tells an origin story Mufasa. For Olówófôyekù, the films were personal as she watched the original film in her home in Nigeria. Now “it’s a full-circle moment” to join the story, where she plays Amara, the white lioness and Akua’s sister (Joanna Jones) and Kiras (Mads Mikkelsen).

Olówófôyekù is the first Nigerian with a Nigerian accent to be cast in films, and the actress explained that representing her culture was her “bigger motive” in her career.

“Nigerians are not very articulate. We don’t feel much emotion,” Oluwafoekyu said. “So I’d say maybe one or two people out of a hundred family members show pride. But I’m sure they feel proud.”

Look Mufasa helped Olówófôyekù connect with her inner child – and it was a very different experience than in 1994. “For that, I was just like a big kid in the movie theater,” she said. “Especially hearing my voice. I smiled through it all. I danced.”

The film has a stellar cast Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Billy Eicher, Beyonce and her daughter Blue Ivy Carter. However, Olówófôyekù did not know that Blue Ivy – or anyone else – was on board as “everything was top secret”.

“I didn’t even know who was in the movie when I was cast. And we were kind of secluded in our private rooms to record with as little artwork as possible,” she said. us. “So I drew on my love of felines to portray her.”

With a report by Travis Cronin

Mufasa: The Lion King in theaters now.