Lupita Nyong'o of '12 Years A Slave' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2013, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2014
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2014
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Lupita Nyong'o attends 7th Annual ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon February 27, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2014
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the Oscars held at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 2, 2014, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk0
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2015
Cannes, France
Lupita Nyong'o attends the opening ceremony and premiere of "La Tete Haute ("Standing Tall") during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 13, 2015, in Cannes, France. (Photo by George Pimentel)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2015
Leicester Square, London WC2H 7LU, United Kingdom
Lupita Nyong'o attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at Leicester Square on December 16, 2015, in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2017
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the premiere of Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at The Shrine Auditorium on December 9, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
110 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attend the 2018 National Board Of Review Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on January 9, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the premiere of Disney and Marvel's "Black Panther" at Dolby Theatre on January 29, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
356 W 12th St, New York, NY 10014, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the Marvel Studios Black Panther Welcome to Wakanda New York Fashion Week Showcase at Industria Studios on February 12, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, 1 Boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France
Lupita Nyong'o attends the screening of "Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer Et Courir Vite)" during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 10, 2018, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
166 Boulevard Leader, 06400 Cannes, France
Lupita Nyong'o attends Chopard Secret Night during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Chateau de la Croix des Gardes on May 11, 2018, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2018
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 10th annual Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 18, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 6, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
9600 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends as Saks celebrates new main floor with Lupita Nyong'o, Carine Roitfeld and Musical performance by Halsey on February 7, 2019, at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
West Hollywood, California, USA
Lupita Nyong'o attends Vanity Fair and Lancôme Toast Women In Hollywood on February 21, 2019, in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
1 Telemundo Way, Miami, FL 33182, United States
Lupita Nyong'o is seen on the set of "Un Nuevo Dia" at Telemundo Center to promote the film "Us" on March 21, 2019, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
9390 N Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 24, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Axelle)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
713 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the "Little Monsters" Premiere 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Paramount Theatre on March 09, 2019, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the "Us" New York Premiere at Museum of Modern Art on March 19, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o, winner of Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture for 'Black Panther', attends the 50th NAACP Image Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 30, 2019, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Liliane Lathan)
Gallery of Lupita Nyong'o
2019
1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Hollywood Film Award
2013
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses with the New Hollywood Award in the portrait studio during the 17th annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 21, 2013, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Academy Award
2014
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role award for '12 Years a Slave' onstage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
Critics' Choice Movie Award
2014
3021 Airport Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405, United States
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the Best Supporting Actress award for "12 Years a Slave" onstage during the 19th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at Barker Hangar on January 16, 2014, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
Independent Spirit Award
2014
Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards at Santa Monica Beach on March 1, 2014, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur)
NAACP Image Award
2014
300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101, United States
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for "12 Years a Slave" onstage during the 45th NAACP Image Awards presented by TV One at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 22, 2014, in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
Screen Actors Guild Award
2014
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses in the press room at the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 18, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris)
Theatre World Award
2016
1633 Broadway (on 50th), New York, NY 10019, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses with her award for "Eclipsed" at the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards at The Circle in the Square Theatre on May 23, 2016, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas)
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses with the New Hollywood Award in the portrait studio during the 17th annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 21, 2013, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Lupita Nyong'o of '12 Years A Slave' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2013, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca)
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role award for '12 Years a Slave' onstage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
3021 Airport Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405, United States
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the Best Supporting Actress award for "12 Years a Slave" onstage during the 19th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at Barker Hangar on January 16, 2014, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards at Santa Monica Beach on March 1, 2014, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur)
Lupita Nyong'o accepts the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for "12 Years a Slave" onstage during the 45th NAACP Image Awards presented by TV One at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 22, 2014, in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses in the press room at the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 18, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris)
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Lupita Nyong'o attends 7th Annual ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon February 27, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian)
Lupita Nyong'o attends the opening ceremony and premiere of "La Tete Haute ("Standing Tall") during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 13, 2015, in Cannes, France. (Photo by George Pimentel)
Lupita Nyong'o attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at Leicester Square on December 16, 2015, in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson)
1633 Broadway (on 50th), New York, NY 10019, United States
Lupita Nyong'o poses with her award for "Eclipsed" at the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards at The Circle in the Square Theatre on May 23, 2016, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas)
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the premiere of Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at The Shrine Auditorium on December 9, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur)
Lupita Nyong'o attend the 2018 National Board Of Review Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on January 9, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt)
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the premiere of Disney and Marvel's "Black Panther" at Dolby Theatre on January 29, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard)
Lupita Nyong'o attends the Marvel Studios Black Panther Welcome to Wakanda New York Fashion Week Showcase at Industria Studios on February 12, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy)
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, 1 Boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France
Lupita Nyong'o attends the screening of "Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer Et Courir Vite)" during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 10, 2018, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto)
Lupita Nyong'o attends Chopard Secret Night during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Chateau de la Croix des Gardes on May 11, 2018, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain)
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 10th annual Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 18, 2018, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter)
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 6, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz)
9600 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends as Saks celebrates new main floor with Lupita Nyong'o, Carine Roitfeld and Musical performance by Halsey on February 7, 2019, at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
Lupita Nyong'o is seen on the set of "Un Nuevo Dia" at Telemundo Center to promote the film "Us" on March 21, 2019, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo)
9390 N Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Lupita Nyong'o attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 24, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Axelle)
Lupita Nyong'o attends the "Little Monsters" Premiere 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Paramount Theatre on March 09, 2019, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer)
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Lupita Nyong'o, winner of Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture for 'Black Panther', attends the 50th NAACP Image Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 30, 2019, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Liliane Lathan)
Lupita Nyong'o attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, 1 Boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France
Jessica Chastain attends the "Ismael's Ghosts (Les Fantomes d'Ismael)" screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Ki Price)
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Lupita Nyong’o is an award-winning Kenyan-Mexican actor. Her Academy Award-winning part came shortly after her graduation from Yale, in the highly acclaimed film 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen. That was the first time a Kenyan or a Mexican actor had ever won an Academy Award. She also delivered brilliant performances on Broadway, in the play Eclipsed, which was highly praised by critics.
Background
Ethnicity:
Lupita Nyong'o is of Luo descent on both sides of her family.
Lupita Nyong’o was born on March 1, 1983, in Mexico City, Mexico, to Dorothy and Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, a college professor turned politician. Lupita Nyong'o is the second of six children. Her father is a former Minister for Medical Services in the Kenyan government. At the time of her birth, he was a visiting lecturer in political science at El Colegio de México in Mexico City. Since it was a tradition in Mexico to name a child after the events of the day, Lupita received a Mexican name.
Her family lived in Kenya but had to leave the country as a result of political repression. They had all suffered for being activists fighting against a brutal president. Her father was tortured, while her uncle was attacked and pushed off a ferry. His body was never recovered, and the official report stated it had been an accident.
Before Lupita wasn't even a year old when the family moved back to Kenya after her father was hired as a professor at the University of Nairobi. Her parents sent her back to Mexico, aged 16 to study Spanish, which speaks fluently along with English, Swahili and the language of her tribe, Luo.
Nyong'o grew up in an artistic family, where get-togethers often included performances by the children and trips to see plays.
Education
While attending the Rusinga International School in Kenya, Lupita took part in school plays and realized her passion for acting.
When Lupita was 16, her parents sent her to Mexico for seven months to learn Spanish. During those seven months, Nyong'o lived in Taxco, Guerrero, and took classes at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Learning Center for Foreigners.
She continued her education at St. Mary’s School in Nairobi and went to college in the United States. She studied film and theater at Hampshire College. After her acting career began to grow, she went back to school.
Nyong'o enrolled in a master's degree program in acting at the Yale School of Drama.
Upon her return to Kenya during school summer vacation, Nyong'o discovered that filming for the drama The Constant Gardener was happening in her area. She joined the set as a production assistant and met Ralph Fiennes, who told her to become an actor only if it was something she couldn't imagine doing without.
Nyong'o honed her craft as a filmmaker by directing, editing and producing the 2009 documentary In My Genes, which followed the stories of several Kenyans who are living with albinism. And she became a star of Kenyan television in Shuga, an MTV/UNICEF-backed series that looked at sexual relationships among youth in Nairobi, aiming to promote HIV awareness and safe sex via storytelling.
Nyong'o returned to the States and, pursuing her interest in acting, earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama in 2012, having performed in works like The Winter's Tale with the school's Repertory Theatre.
Weeks before graduating she found out that she had landed a part in director Steve McQueen's drama 12 Years a Slave. The Brad Pitt-produced film is based on the 19th-century narrative written by Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Northern-based free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Nyong'o played the role of Patsey, an enslaved young woman who befriends Northup while being horrifically abused by plantation master Edwin Epps and his wife, portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson. For her performance in the film, Nyong'o earned a slew of award nominations, before taking home the 2014 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Nyong'o starred opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore in 2014’s Non-Stop, a thriller about an air marshal confronted by a deadly ransom threat. In June 2014, Disney’s Lucasfilm announced that the Oscar winner was joining the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with the film having a December 2015 release. On her Instagram account, Nyong'o posted, "I can finally say it out loud and proud: I'm going to a galaxy far far away!" The actress portrays CGI space pirate Maz Kanata in what became the biggest domestic box office outing of all time, a role she reprised for the 2017 sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Nyong'o also prepared for her New York stage debut in autumn 2015 with the Public Theater's Off-Broadway production of Eclipsed, a drama about the struggles of several Liberian women during civil war. Eclipsed made its way to Broadway the following year in February, and both the play and Nyong'o herself soon earned Tony nominations.
Nyong'o returned to the big screen in 2016 with the feel-good Queen of Katwe, about an African girl who becomes a chess champion, and as the voice of the maternal wolf Raksha in a remake of Disney's The Jungle Book.
Nyong'o found herself in the middle of another buzzworthy project when she was tapped to join the Marvel flick Black Panther as Nakia, the love interest of Chadwick Boseman's titular superhero.
The film proved a box office smash upon its release for the four-day President's Day weekend in February 2018, raking in more than $200 million domestically and over $360 worldwide. Additionally, the production was notable for shattering stereotypes about the limitations of marketing a largely black cast.
Nyong'o went on to a co-starring role in the comedy-horror Little Monsters, which premiered at Sundance in early 2019. She followed with a turn to scream-out-loud horror in Jordan Peele's Us, about a family confronted by a sinister group of doppelgängers.
Nyong'o will reprise her role as Maz Kanata for the third time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), which will mark the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. She will also star in Simon Kinberg's ensemble spy-thriller 355 (2021), alongside Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, and Diane Kruger.
Nyong'o is developing a television series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah, which she will produce and star in. She will produce and star in Born a Crime, a film adaptation of Trevor Noah's memoir of the same name, in which she will play Noah's mother, Patricia; will star alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King, a drama based on the Dahomey Amazons; and will lend her voice to play the Giant in the live-animation film Jack. She has also committed to star in a remake of John Woo's 1989 action thriller The Killer. She will also reunite with director Abe Forsythe and the creative team behind the horror-comedy film Little Monsters for a starring role in a science fiction comedy film.
Nyong’o will appear in British Channel 4's documentary entitled; Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o to take a journey across Benin, West Africa to uncover a forgotten female army, Agoji or Dahomey Amazons.
(Disney presents Queen of Katwe, a movie based on a vibran...)
2016
Religion
Nyong'o was raised in a Baptist religion.
Politics
Asked whether she is political, Nyong'o says: "I don't know. I had to share my father with politics for so long. I don't ever want to be president - let's just get that out of the way."
Views
In 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation recruited Nyong'o in an effort to oppose development, including a new minor league baseball stadium, in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond, Virginia. The historic neighborhood, one of Richmond's oldest, was the site of major slave-trading before the American Civil War. On October 19, 2014, Nyong'o sent a letter to Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, which she posted on social media sites, asking him to withdraw support for the development proposal.
In June 2015, Nyong'o returned to Kenya and announced that she will advocate globally for elephants with the international conservation organization WildAid, as well as promote women's issues, acting and the arts in Kenya. WildAid announced Nyong'o as their Global Elephant Ambassador.
Nyong'o is involved in the organization Mother Health International, which is dedicated to providing relief to women and children in Uganda by creating locally engaged birthing centers. She said she'd never thought much about birthing practices until her sister introduced her to MHI executive director Rachel Zaslow. Nyong'o felt bringing attention to such important but overlooked issues is a mandate for her as an artist. She was honored for her work in 2016 by Variety.
In April 2016, Nyong'o launched an anti-poaching "hearts and minds" campaign with her organization Wildaid in advance of Kenya Wildlife Service's history-making ivory burn that occurred April 30. The Kenyan government burned 105 tonnes of ivory and 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn in a demonstration of their zero-tolerance approach to poachers and smugglers who were threatening the survival of elephants and rhinoceros in the wild.
n October 2017, Nyong'o wrote an op-ed for The New York Times, in which she revealed that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed her twice in 2011, while she was a student at Yale. She vowed that she would never work with Weinstein, hence her declining a role in Southpaw (2015). Nyong'o also wrote about her commitment to work with women directors or male feminist directors, who had not abused their power. This op-ed was part of a collection of stories done by The New York Times and The New Yorker which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Quotations:
"I got teased and taunted about my skin. My one prayer to God was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of the mirror because I wanted to see my face first. Every day I would feel the disappointment of being just as dark as the day before."
"I realize that beauty was not a thing I could acquire or consume. It was something that I just had to be."
"My mother taught me that there are more valuable ways to achieve beauty than just through external features. She was focused on compassion and respect, and those are the things that ended up translating to me as beauty."
"Beautiful people have many advantages, but so do friendly people...I think beauty is an expression of love."
"Go where you are loved. People who see the best in you bring out the best in you."
Personality
For a large part of her childhood and young adult life, Nyong’o did not feel confident in her own skin. She did not see someone with her skin tone or hair type in the mainstream media. Her opinion of herself changed when she saw British-Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek in magazines, and she began to understand the importance of self-love.
Lupita is of Luo descent, one of the largest ethnic groups in Kenya. Traditionally, Luo people name their child after the events of the day. Her parents gave her a Spanish name, Lupita, which is a diminutive of Guadalupe. Lupita went on to explain some more about her name: In an interview with Dinner Party Download, she stated that “my parents chose that name in particular because in our language it made some sense as well. We’re from the Luo ethnic group and to ‘Luo’ means to follow, and my father’s name is Peter, so they thought it would be smart to call me Lupita because I followed my father to Mexico.”
In 2017, Nyong’o appeared on the cover of Grazia UK magazine, and when the issue was eventually released she was outraged to find out that the magazine had heavily edited her photo - they removed her ponytail and smoothed out her hair. Nyong’o voiced her displeasure to the magazine, and photographer An Le apologized for the “incredibly monumental mistake.”
Interests
pole dancing
Politicians
Barack Obama
Writers
Love, Gnosis, and Other Suicide Attempts by Amir Sulaiman, Fight Your Fear and Win: Seven Skills for Performing Your Best Under Pressure--At Work, In Sports, On Stage by Dr. Don Greene, Map 4 Life by Glen Allen McQuirk
Artists
Nick Barose
Sport & Clubs
tennis
Athletes
Serena Williams
Music & Bands
Eartha Kitt, John Legend, the Temptations
Connections
Lupita Nyong’o is very discreet when it comes to her personal life. There were rumors about her dating different men, but she chose not to comment on any such speculation.