Â鶹APP

Lupita Nyong’o. Photo by Daniel Benavides.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o (born March 1, 1983, in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Kenyan actress who won an Academy Award for her role in 12 Years a Slave (2013).

Nyong’o was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, where her father was a government minister and senator. She attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and worked as a production assistant and intern on several films while still a student.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in film and African studies in 2007. Her senior thesis film, In My Genes (2009), was shown at the New York African Film Festival in 2010. Nyong’o later appeared in the television miniseries Shuga (2009-2012), which was about Lagos youth culture.

She then attended Yale School of Drama, where she received a master’s degree in acting (2012).

1. She made her professional acting debut at age 14

Nyong’o made her professional acting debut as Juliet in the Nairobi-based repertory company Phoenix Players’ production of Romeo and Juliet. Nyong’o appeared in the plays On The Razzle and There Goes The Bride while a member of the Phoenix Players. Nyong’o credits Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey’s performances in The Color Purple with inspiring her to pursue a professional acting career.

2. She’s the fourth Mexican-born actress to get an Oscar nomination

Oscar nomination award. Photo by baona.

She joins a cast of accomplished Mexican actresses who have been recognized for their inspiring performances. Others include Katy Jurado for Broken Lance (1954), Salma Hayek for Frida (2002), and Adriana Barraza for Babel (2006).

3. Lupita won an Oscar for her first major film role

Lupita Nyong’o. Photo by Stephanie Moreno.

Nyong’o landed her breakthrough role in Steve McQueen’s historical drama 12 Years a Slave shortly after graduating from Yale (2013). The critically acclaimed film is based on the life of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free-born African-American man from upstate New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in Washington, DC, in 1841. Nyong’o played Patsey, a slave who works alongside Northup on a Louisiana cotton plantation, and her performance was praised.

She was nominated for several awards for 12 Years a Slave, including Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the BAFTAs, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which she won. She was also the sixth black actress to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The blue Prada gown she wore to the awards received significant media attention and acclaim and is regarded as one of the classic red carpet gowns in Hollywood history. She is the second African actress to receive the award, the first Kenyan actress to do so, and the first Mexican to do so. She is also the fifteenth actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

4. Lupita is fluent in at least four languages

As a result of being born to Kenyan parents, she learned to speak Dholuo, which is her mother tongue, and Swahili, the Kenyan national language, and when her parents returned to Kenya to raise her. 

Her parents sent her to Mexico to learn Spanish when she was 16 years old. Nyong’o lived in Taxco, Guerrero, for seven months and attended classes at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s Learning Center for Foreigners.

5. She has appeared on the vogue magazine cover four times

Lupita Nyong’o on a magazine cover. Photo by Liberty Media for Women, LLC.

Nyong’o was the second African woman and the ninth black woman to grace the cover of Vogue in July 2014. She appeared on the cover of Vogue in October 2015, her second cover in a row. Nyong’o made her third appearance on the cover of Vogue in October 2016. She was honored at the 2016 Elle Women in Hollywood Awards the following month. Nyong’o landed her fourth Vogue cover in a row in December 2017 for the January 2018 issue, making her the first black actress to do so.

6. She began her film career as a production assistant

Nyong’o began her career on the set of several films, including Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener (2005), Mira Nair’s The Namesake (2006), and Salvatore Stabile’s Where God Left His Shoes (2007). She credits Ralph Fiennes, the British star of The Constant Gardener, with inspiring her to pursue a career in acting. Nyong’o appeared in Marc Grey’s 2008 short film East River, which was shot in Brooklyn.

7. She has been cast in Star Wars and Marvel blockbusters

Nyong’o appeared as the Force-sensitive space pirate Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, a CGI character created using motion capture technology. She had desired to play a role in which her physical appearance was unimportant, and the acting provided a different challenge than her role as Patsey. Her role as Maz Kanata was reprised in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and the animated series Star Wars Forces of Destiny.

In 2018, she starred in Ryan Coogler’s superhero film Black Panther as spy Nakia, a former member of Dora Milaje, a team of women who serve as special forces of Wakanda and personal bodyguards to T’Challa / Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). Nyong’o learned Xhosa and trained in judo, jujitsu, silat, and Filipino martial arts in preparation for the role. Nyong’o will play Nakia again in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to the original Black Panther film, which is set to be released in November 2022.

8. Nyong’o also wears the hats of producer/director and writer

Lupita Nyong’o. Photo by Ford234.

She wrote, directed, and produced the documentary In My Genes, about the discrimination against Kenya’s albino population, in 2009. It was selected for several film festivals, including the 2008 Five College Film Festival, where it won first place. Nyong’o also directed Wahu’s music video “The Little Things You Do,” which featured Bobi Wine and was nominated for Best Video at the 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards.

Nyong’o is producing and starring in a television series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Americanah. She will produce and star in Born a Crime, a film based on Trevor Noah’s memoir of the same name, playing Noah’s mother, Patricia.

She made her writing debut with Sulwe (2019), a book published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Sulwe (Luo for “star”) is the story of a five-year-old Kenyan girl with the darkest complexion in her family, based on Nyong’o’s own childhood experiences. The book went on to become a New York Times Best-Seller. Sulwe was chosen for the 2020 Coretta Scott King Awards Illustrator Honor and the 2020 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work – Children. Nyong’o announced in February 2021 that she would produce an animated musical based on her number-one best-selling children’s book, Sulwe (2019), for Netflix.

9. Lupita is a Hollywood walk of fame honoree

Lupita Nyong’o. Photo by Stephanie Moreno.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced in June 2018 that Nyong’o will be among those honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the film category.

One of the greatest honors you can receive as a member of Hollywood’s elite is having your name engraved on a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While some people may have to wait a lifetime for this honor, others, such as Lupita Nyong’o, were recognized early in their careers. Nyong’o is now a part of Walk of Fame history, joining other deserving entertainers in the “Walk of Fame Class of 2019.” The Walk of Fame Selection Committee honored them.

10. She is the face of the French luxury brand, Lancôme

As the first black celebrity to represent the French luxury cosmetic brand Lancôme, she was unveiled as the “Face of Lancôme.” She is the fourth Academy Award winner to hold this position, following Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz, and Kate Winslet.