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Winston Duke Says He And Lupita Nyong'o Were 'Dorks' During Their Drama School Days

The "Us" star also recalls this one activity the two would do that may surprise you.

Long before they shared the big screen in two of the biggest blockbuster hits in recent memory — Marvel's Black Panther and Jordan Peele's Us Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o were drama school students working work study jobs and making up jingles in their spare time.

Yep, as the saying goes, these two "go way back," as they were both enrolled in the prestigious Yale School of Drama where they forged quite the close friendship.

While the two now live the glamorous Hollywood life after making their big breaks in the film industry, Duke, during an interview with Page Six, recalled that they weren't always as polished as they now appear to be.

"We were dorks," he bluntly said of their time at Yale. "It was very much socializing academically — so, seeing each other's plays. We also had work study together a couple times where she had to usher at the Yale Repertory Theater and I'd be ushering at the Yale Repertory Theater and we'd be there telling jokes."

In fact, the Trinbagonian star went down memory lane and shared a practice he and the Oscar-winning actress would do while they were out together.

"There was another time where we were walking in the streets of New Haven, just singing," he remembered. "We were singing about how cold it was outside...  We were just singing and singing at people as they walked by. It was very, 'I'm in theater school training' of us."

Though they've grown massively in their crafts, Duke still holds his longtime friend in the highest regard, praising her in these three words: "Fierce, collaborative and generous."

Watch Duke reminisce on their close bond, below:

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