Celebrity Spotlight: Lupita Nyong’o

-+Lupita+Nyongo+poses+in+the+press+room+with+the+award+for+best+actress+in+a+supporting+role+for+12+Years+a+Slave+during+the+Oscars+at+the+Dolby+Theatre+on+Sunday%2C+March+2%2C+2014%2C+in+Los+Angeles.++%28Photo+by+Jordan+Strauss%2FInvision%2FAP%29

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

– Lupita Nyong’o poses in the press room with the award for best actress in a supporting role for “12 Years a Slave” during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Let’s throw it back to the Academy awards in 2014; 12 Years a Slave is nominated for 9 Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress. It managed to snag three of the nine nominations and among the winners was Lupita Nyong’o, a 31 year old Mexican-Kenyan actress.

    Lupita Nyong’o was born in Mexico City, on March 1st, 1983 to Kenyan parents. She was then raised in Kenya and sent back to Mexico for 7 months to study Spanish. Her father is currently a senator in Kenya after being a college professor and her mother is the managing director of Africa Cancer Foundation and owns her own communications company. She studied drama at the Yale school of drama, which was effective as she was the first Mexican-Kenyan actress to win 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. She was the fourth Mexican born actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She has racked up an impressive collection of awards and sponsorships from large companies such as Lancome. She became the first black actress to become the “Face of Lancome”.

    Before she became one of the most popular actors around, Lupita Nyong’o started filmmaking and producing her documentary called In My Genes, where she talks about Kenyans living with albinism. She also, according to Bio., she was involved in a show, Shuga, where people talk about HIV-Awareness and the importance of safe sex.

    Ms. Nyong’o had achieved a lot of fame once she starred in 12 Years a Slave, where she portrayed a slave who was beaten by her slave owner and his wife. Her character, Patsey, is one who befriends the main character and is displayed throughout the whole movie. This role gave her the opportunity to win Best Supporting Actress. Lupita, in fact, took home the award and was later getting herself involved with a lot more fame and movie roles.

    After her success in working with the Brad Pitt-produced film, Lupita Nyong’o later worked with Lucasfilm and voiced Maz Kanata, a space pirate from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She also starred in Eclipsed, which landed her plenty of Tony nominations.

    Debuting in many red carpet events and posing for many fashion magazines, Lupita Nyong’o, other than proving herself a fantastic actress, has shown she is a fashion icon.  According to Vogue, she had walked up to 66 red carpets and all in stunning attire.

    Lupita Nyong’o is definitely one who is known to surpass boundaries and have an appreciation for the arts. “Being able to use my platform to expand and diversify the African voice,” she says, talking about her African culture in the media, “I feel very passionate about that. It feels intentional, meaningful.”