Eartha Kitt Played Helen of Troy Before Lupita Nyong'o—Meet the Trailblazing Black Icon

Before timelines melted down over Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy, Orson Welles handed that same role to Eartha Kitt. In 1950. In Paris. So yeah, this conversation has some history.

1950: Eartha Kitt steals Helen of Troy (and a lot of headlines)

Fresh into her career and already magnetic on stage, Eartha Kitt was cast by Orson Welles as Helen of Troy in his Paris production of 'Dr. Faustus' in 1950. He put her opposite himself, and the choice detonated into international headlines. This was an era when casting a Black actress as a classical beauty icon was about as radical as it gets. Welles did it anyway.

'I chose you to play this part because you are the most exciting woman in the world.'

Kitt said Welles told her that, and she shared it later in her autobiography. He also framed Helen in a way that neatly sidesteps any narrow, literal take on the role:

'Helen represents all women of all ages' and has 'no place or time.'

If that sounds like a very modern defense, it is. And it was 75 years ago.

Kitt beyond Helen: superstardom and a spine of steel

That Paris run helped launch Kitt into global stardom. Soon came the hits and the pop-culture staples: 'Santa Baby,' the scene-stealing turn as Catwoman on 'Batman, ' and a career that hopped from Broadway to music to film and TV without ever really slowing down.

There are these wonderfully surreal details too: she remembered strolling through Paris with Welles after rehearsals while he recited Shakespeare to her, like someone dropped them into an old movie. And beyond the glamour, Kitt was outspoken well ahead of her time — calling out war, pushing for civil rights, and advocating for LGBTQ+ communities long before most celebrities dared go near any of it.

Cut to now: Lupita Nyong'o and Nolan revisit Helen

Lupita Nyong'o has been cast as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan 's upcoming epic 'The Odyssey. ' The announcement blew up social media — a Black actress as a mythic Greek figure? Cue the discourse. Historians and pop-culture nerds quickly pointed back to Kitt and Welles: we already did this dance in 1950.

Nyong'o addressed the noise by pointing out the obvious — 'The Odyssey' is a mythological story — and backed Nolan's broader creative vision for the film. The symmetry here is hard to miss: her comments echo Welles' old framing of Helen as universal, not tethered to a single place or time. Adding a bit more poetry to it, Nyong'o has publicly cited Eartha Kitt as one of her inspirations, long before this casting ever landed. Sometimes history actually rhymes.

• 1950: Orson Welles casts Eartha Kitt as Helen of Troy in 'Dr. Faustus' in Paris; headlines go global.
• 1950s–60s: Kitt explodes into worldwide fame — 'Santa Baby,' Catwoman on 'Batman,' the whole deal — while speaking out on civil rights, war, and LGBTQ+ issues.
• 2026: Lupita Nyong'o is cast as Helen in Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey,' and the debate flares up again.
• Response: Nyong'o calls it a mythological story; fans and scholars note Welles made the same argument for Kitt decades ago.

Why this still matters

Because what looks like a brand-new controversy is actually a rerun with better wifi. Eartha Kitt cracked this door open in 1950, long before the industry was remotely ready for it. Nyong'o stepping into Helen now is less a rupture than a continuation — a straight line from a daring Paris stage to one of the biggest filmmakers in the world.

Did you already know Kitt got there first? If not, consider this a very nerdy slice of casting history finally getting its due.