Lupita Nyong'o

About Lupita Nyong'o

Black Panther made Lupita Nyong'o a household name across Africa. Her role as Nakia in the 2018 Marvel film introduced her to millions who had never heard of her before.

Lupita Amondi Nyong'o was born on March 1, 1983, in Mexico City. Her father, Anyang' Nyong'o, was a Kenyan politician teaching there at the time. When she turned three, the family moved back to Kenya and raised her there.

She studied film and theatre at Hampshire College in the United States. After graduation, she returned to Kenya to work as a production assistant in Hollywood. In 2008, she made her acting debut in the short film East River. The following year, she landed a role in the television series Shuga, which ran from 2009 to 2012.

Nyong'o then pursued a master's degree in acting from Yale School of Drama. The timing was perfect. Right after graduation, director Steve McQueen cast her in 12 Years a Slave in 2013. She played Patsey and earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At that moment, her career changed forever.

Broadway came next. In 2015, she made her stage debut in Eclipsed, playing a teenage orphan. The performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. That same year, she also voiced and performed motion capture work as Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, appearing in films through 2019.

Her role as Raksha in The Jungle Book came in 2016. But it was Black Panther two years later that transformed her into a global star. The film became a cultural phenomenon across Nigeria and the entire continent.

Lupita has won an Actor Award, an Academy Award and a Daytime Emmy Award. She has also received nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. From a production assistant in Hollywood to an Oscar winner, her journey proves that talent and determination open doors.