Lupita Nyong'o says her own mother inspired her performance in 'The Jungle Book'

LOS ANGELES, April 10 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o says she looked to her real-life mother when creating her nurturing and protective wolf character Raksha for the re-imagining of Disney's classic cartoon movie The Jungle Book.

"I think my mother had a lot to do with what inspired me," Nyong'o acknowledged at a recent California press conference.

"She's my example and she's a very good mother and, yeah, I asked myself a lot of questions about what it would be like to lose one of my own. Although I am not a mother myself, I do love children. When I was 12, I preferred to stay indoors and babysit my cousins rather than go outside and play, so there is that part of me that is very much alive. I gravitate towards children. My mother definitely was someone who inspired me."

Also lending their voices to the live-action film's photorealistic, CGI animals are Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Esposito. The Jungle Book is set for release Friday.