Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (US: /luːˈpiːtə ˈnjɔːŋoʊ/, Kenyan English: [luˈpita ˈɲoŋo] (audio speaker
iconlisten); Spanish: [luˈpita ˈɲoŋɡo]; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican[2] actress. The daughter
of Kenyan politician Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, she was born in Mexico City, where her father was teaching,
and was raised in Kenya from the age of one. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an
Academy Award, a Daytime Emmy Award, four NAACP Image Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild
Awards. Additionally, she has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award.
Nyong'o attended college in the United States, earning a bachelor's degree in film and theatre studies
from Hampshire College. She later began her career in Hollywood as a production assistant. In 2008, she
made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently returned to Kenya to star in the
television series Shuga (2009–2012). In 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary In My
Genes. She then pursued a master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama. Soon after her
graduation, she had her first feature film role as Patsey in Steve McQueen's biographical period drama
12 Years a Slave (2013), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress.
Nyong'o made her Broadway debut as a teenage orphan in the play Eclipsed (2015), for which she was
nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She went on to perform a motion capture role as
Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019) and a lead voice role as Raksha in The Jungle
Book (2016). Nyong'o's career progressed with her role as Nakia in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
superhero film Black Panther (2018) and her starring role in Jordan Peele's critically acclaimed horror
film Us (2019).
Aside from acting, Nyong'o supports historic preservation. She is vocal about preventing sexual
harassment, working for women's and animal rights. In 2014, she was named the most beautiful woman
by People. In 2019, Nyong'o wrote a children's book named Sulwe, which became a number-one New
York Times Best-Seller. That same year, Nyong'o narrated the Discovery Channel docu-series Serengeti,
which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Narrator. In 2020, Nyong'o was
named one of Africa's "50 Most Powerful Women" by Forbes.
Contents
1
Early life
2
Career
2.1
2005–2015: Early work and breakthrough
2.2
2016–present: Motion capture roles, Black Panther and Us
2.2.1
Upcoming projects
3
Personal life
4
In the media
5
Filmography
5.1
Film
5.2
Television
5.3
Video games
5.4
Crew member
5.5
Stage
6
Bibliography
7
See also
8
References
9
External links