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Lupita Nyong'o
Nyong'o at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (1983-03-01) 1 March 1983 (age 41) Mexico City, Mexico
Citizenship	Kenyan, Mexican
Alma mater	Hampshire College, Yale School of Drama (MFA), Whittier College
Occupation(s)	Actress, film director, music video director
Years active	2004–present
Parent(s)	Peter Anyang' Nyong'o (father) Dorothy Nyong'o (mother)
Relatives	Isis Nyong'o (cousin) Tavia Nyong'o (cousin)

Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (born 1 March 1983) is a Mexican-born, Kenyan actress and film and music video director. She appeared in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Patsey, for which she received critical acclaim. For her role, Nyong'o won the Academy Award, the Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in addition to receiving nominations for the Golden Globe and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Personal life

Nyong'o was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Dorothy and Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, a politician in Kenya. It is a Luo tradition to name a child after the events of the day, so her parents named her Lupita (a diminutive of "Guadalupe," Our Lady of Guadalupe).According to an article by a Spanish publication. Lupita has dual citizenship between Kenya and Mexico. She is of Luo descent and is the second of six children. Her father was the former Kenyan Minister for Medical Services. At the time of Lupita's birth, he was a visiting lecturer in political science at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, and her family had been living in Mexico for three years.

Nyong'o moved back to Kenya with her parents when she was less than one year old, when her father was appointed a professor at the University of Nairobi. She grew up primarily in Kenya, and describes her upbringing as "middle class, suburban". At age sixteen, her parents sent her back to Mexico for seven months, to learn Spanish. During those seven months, Nyong'o lived in Taxco, Mexico, and took classes at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico's Learning Center for Foreigners. Lupita Nyong'o is not of Mexican heritage, despite various media outlets stating that as the case. In an interview with CNN en Español the actress stated, “Mexico was very strange to me, coming from Kenya, but I found such friendly people and fell in love with the food, to this day, I love eating steak tacos before going to the red carpets.” She also states she made friends in Mexico when she went there to study Spanish: “I still have a lot of friends and I hope to go there soon.”

In 2013, her father was elected to represent Kisumu County in the Kenyan Senate. Nyong'o's mother is currently the managing director of the Africa Cancer Foundation and her own communications company. Her cousin Tavia Nyong'o is a scholar and professor at New York University. In 2012, her older cousin, Isis Nyong'o, was named one of Africa's most powerful women by Forbes magazine. Her uncle, Aggrey Nyong'o, was a prominent Kenyan physician, killed in a road accident in 2002.

Nyong'o currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is fluent in English, Spanish, Swahili, and her native Luo. On February 27, 2014, at the Essence Black Women In Hollywood luncheon in Beverly Hills, Lupita gave a speech on black beauty. Lupita talked about a letter she received from a young fan who stated she was unhappy with herself until she saw the actress on the cover of a magazine. In her speech Lupita talked about the insecurities she had about herself as a teenager; growing up as a dark skinned black girl, women that looked like her were barely portrayed in the media and when they were, they not deemed as being beautiful. She states that, her views about herself changed when she saw South Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek become successful.

"When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny,” she added. “Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty".

The luncheon is held annually and is attended by top black women in the Entertainment industry. Actress Kerry Washington who was in attendance wrote on her Twitter page ” Had the profound honor of hearing Lupita Nyong’o give this phenomenal speech yesterday”.

Education and career

Nyong'o grew up in an artistic family, where family get-togethers often included performances by the children in the family and trips to see plays. She attended an all-girls school in Kenya and acted in school plays, with a minor role in Oliver Twist being her first play. At age 14, Nyong'o made her professional acting debut as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" in a production by the Nairobi, Kenya-based repertory company Phoenix Players. While a member of the Phoenix Players, Nyong'o also performed in the plays "On The Razzle" and "There Goes The Bride". Nyong'o cites the performances of Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in The Color Purple with inspiring her to pursue a professional acting career.

Nyong'o attended college in the United States. After graduating from Hampshire College with a degree in film and theatre studies, she worked on the production crew of many films, including Fernando Meirelles's The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, Mira Nair's The Namesake, and Salvatore Stabile's Where God Left His Shoes. She cites Fiennes as another individual who inspired her to pursue a professional acting career.

She starred in the 2008 short film East River, directed by Marc Grey and shot in Brooklyn, New York. She returned to Kenya in 2008 and starred in the Kenyan television series Shuga, an MTV Base Africa/UNICEF drama about HIV/AIDS prevention. In 2009, she wrote, directed, and produced the documentary In My Genes, about the treatment of Kenya's albino population, which played at several film festivals and won first prize at the 2008 Five College Film Festival. Nyong'o also directed the "The Little Things You Do" music video by Wahu ft. Bobi Wine, which was nominated for the Best Video Award at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009.

She subsequently enrolled in the acting program at the Yale School of Drama. At Yale she appeared in many stage productions, including Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and The Winter's Tale. While at Yale, she was the recipient of the Herschel Williams Prize "awarded to acting students with outstanding ability" during the 2011–2012 school year.

Nyong'o landed her breakout role when she was cast in 12 Years a Slave immediately before graduating from Yale with an MFA in 2012. The film was released in 2013 to great critical acclaim. Nyong'o received rave reviews for her performance, and has been nominated for several awards including a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and two Screen Actors Guild Awards including Best Supporting Actress, which she won. She co-starred in Liam Neeson's 2014 film Non-Stop. On March 2, 2014, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2014, she was chosen as one of the faces for Miu Miu's Spring 2014 campaign, with Elizabeth Olsen, Elle Fanning and Bella Heathcote. She has also appeared on the covers of several magazines, including New York's Spring 2014 fashion issue and UK magazine Dazed & Confused. She has also been a regular on Harper's Bazaar's Derek Blasberg's Best Dressed List since Autumn 2013.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "School of Drama 2012–2013" (PDF). Yale Unversity. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
2. Terra: "Actriz de '12 Years a Slave' presume orgullo mexicano". 8 September 2013.
3. "12 Things to Know About '12 Years a Slave' Breakout Lupita Nyong'o". Yahoo Movies. 1 November 2013.
4. "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson". Season 10. Episode 1822. 12 November 2013. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
5. ^ Bamigboye, Baz. "Fiennes start to a career: Lupita Nyong'o is female star of hottest movie of the year." MailOnline. Retrieved 6 September 2013. Cite error: The named reference ":0" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Walubengo, Laura (4 November 2013). "Interview: A moment with Dorothy Nyong'o". Dstv.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
7. ^ "Matt LeBlanc, Lupita Nyong'o, The Fray". Jimmy Kimmel Live. 14 January 2014. ABC.
8. http://entretenimiento.terra.com.mx/cine/actriz-de-12-years-a-slave-presume-orgullo-mexicano,741bce2e04ef0410VgnVCM5000009ccceb0aRCRD.html
9. ^ Williams, Sally (10 January 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o: Interview with a rising star". The Guardian.
10. ^ "Lupita Nyong'o, From Unknown to 'It' Girl in Less Than a Year - The Cut". Nymag.com. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
11. ^ Carolina Moreno (4 February 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o Talks Being Born In Mexico And Why She Misses It (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
13. ^ "For '12 Years a Slave' actress, Oscar nod is "ultimate bonus" of amazing journey". Usatoday.com. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
14. ^ Kimani, Ciku (31 January 2014). "The rise and rise of Lupita Nyong'o - DN2". nation.co.ke. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
15. "African Women Who Inspire: Isis Nyong'o". AkiliDada. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
16. Nseheis, Mfonobong. "Africa's Most Successful Women: Isis Nyong'o". Forbes.com. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
17. "Lupita Nyong'o: 10 things to know about the '12 Years a Slave' actress". CNN.com. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
18. Rothman, Lily (28 February 2014). "Oscar Nominee Lupita Nyong'o: Essence Speech on "Black Beauty" | TIME.com". Entertainment.time.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
19. "Lupita Nyong'o gives moving speech at Essence's Black Women in Hollywood event: 'There is no shame in black beauty'". NY Daily News. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
20. Butler, Bethonie (1 March 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o's speech on 'black beauty' underscores her significance in Hollywood". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
21. Diaz, Evelyn (26 November 2013). "Octavia Spencer, Oprah Winfrey and Lupita Nyong'o on Acting | News". BET. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
22. Shapiro, Bee (10 February 2014). "Actress Lupita Nyong'o Talks Hair and Makeup Tips and Working on 12 Years a Slave:beauty:glamour.com:beauty". glamour.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
23. "About the Director". In My Genes. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
24. ^ Samuels, Michael. "Hampshire College 2009–2010 News & Events, "Alumni Profile: International Filmmaker and Actress Lupita Nyong'o". Hampshire College. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
25. Christopher Campbell, "Watch ’12 Years a Slave’ Breakout Lupita Nyong'o In Her Film Debut ‘East River’," Film School Rejects, 3 November 2013.
26. Jessica Herndon (Feb. 18, 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o is Hollywood's new fixation". Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. "On the Rise: Lupita Nyong'o, the Awards-Bound Breakout of 12 Years a Slave | The House Next Door". Slant Magazine. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
28. "Kenyan Actress Lupita Nyong'o Gets Rave Reviews At Hollywood Movie Premiere". Vibeweekly.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
29. Jamie Feldman (10 February 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o Covers New York Magazine's Spring Fashion Issue, Looks Stunning As Usual". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
30. Julee Wilson (14 January 2014). "Lupita Nyong'o Covers Dazed & Confused, Proving Yet Again She Is Fashion's New 'It' Girl (PHOTOS)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.

External links

• Lupita Nyong'o at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Living people
• 1983 births
• Mexican people of African descent
• Mexican film actresses
• Yale School of Drama alumni
• Hampshire College alumni
• Kenyan actresses
• Actresses from Mexico City
• 21st-century Mexican actresses
• Kenyan expatriates in the United States
• Mexican emigrants to the United States
• People from Brooklyn
• Luo people
• People of Luo descent
• Independent Spirit Award winners
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners