Lupita Amondi Nyong’o was born March 1, 1983 in Mexico City, Mexico, to Kenyan parents, Dorothy Ogada Buyu and Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o. Her father, a senator, was then a visiting lecturer in political science.
She was raised in Kenya. At age 16, her parents sent her back to Mexico for seven months to learn Spanish. She read film studies at Hampshire College, Massachusetts and, after working as a production assistant on several films, graduated from the Yale School of Drama’s acting program. In 2013, she impressed cinema audiences in her film debut, as brutalized slave Patsey in acclaimed director Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years a Slave (2013). She was also the lead in MTV’s award-winning drama series, Shuga (2009), appeared in the thriller Non-Stop (2014) and had roles in the big-budget films Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) and The Jungle Book (2016).
Lupita’s stage credits include playing “Perdita” in “The Winter’s Tale”, (Yale Repertory Theater), “Sonya” in “Uncle Vanya”, “Katherine” in “The Taming of the Shrew”, as well as being in the original production of Michael Mitnick‘s “Elijah”.
Lupita played the female lead, Nakia, in the 2018 superhero film Black Panther (2018).
Lupita is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
It is a Luo tradition to name a child after the events of the day, so her parents named her Lupita, because of her Mexican birth. She is the second of six children.
Born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Kenyan parents. Her father, Professor Anyang’ Nyong’o, is a senator in Kenya.
Is the fourth Mexican-born actress to be nominated for an Oscar. The others, in chronological order, are: Katy Jurado for Broken Lance (1954), Salma Hayek for Frida (2002) and Adriana Barraza for Babel (2006).
When she won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in 12 Years a Slave (2013) in 2014, she became the first Kenyan to win an Oscar, the first African actress to win Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the first Mexican-born actress to win an Oscar.
Considers herself Mexican-Kenyan.
Is fluent in Luo, English, Swahili and Spanish.
Her brother, Junior, was her date to the Oscars in 2014.
Is of Luo descent on both sides of her family.
Moved from Mexico back to Kenya with her family when she was less than a year old.
Her father, Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, a former college professor, was elected to represent Kisumu County in the Kenyan Senate in 2013.
Her mother, Dorothy Ogada Buyu Nyong’o, is the managing director of the Africa Cancer Foundation and has her own communications company.
Was the 142nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 12 Years a Slave (2013) at The 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014.
Unveiled as the “Face of Lancôme” becoming the first black celebrity to represent the French luxury cosmetic brand. She is the fourth Academy Award-winning actress to merit this post after Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz and Kate Winslet. [April 2014]
Her first “Vogue” magazine cover (July 2014) was photographed by Swedish photographer Mikael Jansson.
Was originally cast as Angela Rivera in Southpaw (2015), but was replaced by Naomie Harris after dropping out of the project.
It is one of 13 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for 12 Years a Slave (2013)). The others are Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (1939), Teresa Wright for Mrs. Miniver (1942), Celeste Holm for Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Mercedes McCambridge for All the King’s Men (1949), Donna Reed for From Here to Eternity (1953), Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront (1954), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (1961), Meryl Streep for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Juliette Binoche for The English Patient (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002).
In 2014, was chosen by People Magazine as the World’s Most Beautiful Woman.
Second Vogue cover appearance: October 2015.
Shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine’s 2016 Hollywood issue with, Jane Fonda, Viola Davis, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Rachel Weisz, Charlotte Rampling, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Saoirse Ronan. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Nominated for the 2016 Best Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award for her performance in “The Eclipsed”. She lost the award to Jessica Lange for her performance in “Long Day’s Journey into Night”.
The N and G in her surname are actually silent.
Is frequently the subject of famed photographer duo Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott.
Resides in Brooklyn, New York. [2016]
Ranked as having one of the “Most Beautiful Famous Faces” by TC Candler’s list of the “100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World” for 4 consecutive years. She was ranked #17 in 2016, #11 in 2015 and #3 in 2014 and #26 in 2014.
First Kenyan actress to be nominated for, and to win, an Academy Award.
Attributes her career choice to British actor Ralph Fiennes. While she was a production assistant on The Constant Gardener (2005) during the Nairobi/Kenya leg of the shoot, she asked Ralph for advice on becoming an actress and he told her that it was tough, but that if acting was what she really wanted to pursue, she simply had to persevere. Eight years later, after attending a screening of 12 Years a Slave (2013) at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2013, Lupita approached Ralph afterward wondering if he’d remember her. He did, instantly, but he had no idea that she was the character Patsey whose performance had blown him away minutes earlier.
As of 2019, has appeared in two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Black Panther (2018).
Her father was a political enemy of Daniel Arap Moi, the President of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. Her uncle Charles, her father’s brother, died in a fall from a boat, possibly as a murder to intimidate Lupita’s family.
Personal Quotes
[on retaining overnight the elaborate scarring makeup on her back, incurred in the brutal whipping scene with the sadistic plantation owner] They were haunting. I could only sleep on my belly. I was just so aware of them the whole night. I remember fretting and weeping, and then it occurred to me that my discomfort was temporary, and the woman who I was playing, her discomfort was permanent. It just really centered me, and really quieted my soul for the next day’s work.
[on portraying Patsey in 12 Years a Slave (2013)] I was heartbroken by her story. I just felt so sorry for her. I recognized then that I had a lot of work to do to get to a point where I could play her, because feeling that kind of sympathy for someone is no way to actually inhabit them.. She was just simple and she was trying to get by on a daily basis. She’s not sentimental about her pain. I had to have the same kind of attitude.
[2014: Academy Award acceptance speech, closing remarks] When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind every child that no matter where you are from, your dreams are valid.
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.
[on supermodel Alek Wek] She was dark as night and was in all the magazines and on runways. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me as beautiful. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me.
I’m Mexican and Kenyan at the same time. I’ve seen the quarrels over my nationality, but I’m Kenyan and Mexican at the same time. So again, I am Mexican-Kenyan and I am fascinated by carne asada tacos.
Having stamina. I think that’s what my three years at Yale rewarded me with, a kind of stamina. And also building a kind of confidence in myself. At Yale, they say, ‘Hold on tightly. Let go lightly’. That’s it. You hold on, and then you just let go with it and trust that when [the director] says ‘Cut’ and then when he says ‘Action’ again, it will be there.
[on being directed by Steve McQueen] Patsey is simple. She’s not noble. He wasn’t interested in a portrait of her as a noble savage. I had to move away from sympathy to a place of empathy, rather than just commenting on her situation, trying to buy people’s love for her. Because she was just trying to get by on a day-to-day basis.
[on her parents] They raised all of us to listen to what we think our calling is and then do it. Do it. And do it well. With a sense of purpose. And so, when my interest was in acting they were very supportive. My mother drove me to rehearsals every day at school. My father was a thespian, so he can live vicariously.
I realize that beauty was not a thing I could acquire or consume. It was something that I just had to be.
My mother would say to me, “You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you.” And these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally, I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be. And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What does sustain us… what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul.
My mother taught me that your presentation is an expression of how much you care about yourself and those around you.
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.
