A STARIS BORN

Lupita Nyong’o

photographed by Steven Pan

May i t remi nd m e a n d ev er y l i t t l e chi ld t ha t , no ma t ter w here y ou’ re f ro m,

your dreams are valid

photographed by Steven Pan

h i s fa m i l y ’s s a fet y, he r elo c a t e d h i s fa m i l y t o Me x ic o C it y.

It w a s t he r e t h a t N yon g ’o w a s b or n on M a r ch 1 , 1 9 83 . He r n a me, L u pi -t a , i s a d i m i nut i ve of G u a d a lu p e. T he fa m i l y r et u r ne d t o Ke n y a b e -for e she w a s a ye a r old .

N yon g ’o s a y s he r p a r e nt s e nc ou r -a g e d he r a nd he r f i ve s ibl i n g s t o “ f i nd out w h a t we we r e c a l le d on t h i s e a r t h t o do a nd t he n do i t t o e xc el le nc e.”

N yon g ’o’s fa t he r i s now a s e n a t or i n Ke n y a a nd he r mot he r, D or ot h y N yon g ’o, i s t he m a n a g i n g d i r e c t or of t he A f r ic a C a nc e r Fou nd a t ion.

A t a n E s s e nc e m a g a z i ne lu nche on i n L o s A n g ele s l a s t we ek , N yon g ’o s a id she r e p e a t e d l y pr a ye d t o G o d a sk i n g for l i g ht e r sk i n d u r i n g he r a dole s c e nc e, b e c a u s e she t hou g ht

B efor e pl a y i n g s l a ve Pa t s e y i n 1 2 Ye a r s a S l a ve, L u pi -

t a N yon g ’o w a s v i r t u a l l y u n -k now n. Now, a s a s u pp or t i n g a c t r e s s O s c a r w i n ne r, she’s b e -c ome a br e a kout s t a r.

He r f i r s t wor d s on a c c e pt-i n g t he a w a r d S u nd a y n i g ht w i l l g o dow n i n O s c a r lor e: “ T h a n k you t o t he A c a d e m y for t h i s i nc r e d ible r e c og n it ion. It do e sn’t e s c a p e me for one mo -me nt t h a t s o much j oy i n m y l i fe i s t h a n k s t o s o much p a i n i n s ome one el s e’s.’ ’

He r b a ck g r ou nd i s a s fa s c i n a t-i n g a s he r r a pid r i s e. He r fa -t he r, Pet e r A n y a n g ’ N yon g ’o, w a s a p ol it ic a l s c ie nc e t e a che r i n Ke n y a a nd a n a d vo c a t e for d e mo c r a t ic r efor m of t he n a -t ion’s a ut o c r a t ic p ol it ic a l s y s -t e m i n t he 1 9 8 0 s. Fe a r i n g for

h a v i n g d a rk bl a ck sk i n w a s a c u r s e. “Eve r y d a y I e x p e r i -e nc e d t he s a me d i s a pp oi nt me nt of b ei n g j u s t a s d a rk a s I h a d b e e n t he d a y b efor e.”

S he s a y s t he s uc c e s s of S ud a ne s e s u p e r mo d el A lek Wek help e d b o o s t he r c on f id e nc e. “ W he n I s a w A lek I i n a d ve r t e nt l y s a w a r ef le c t ion of m y s el f t h a t I c ou ld not d e n y.”

He r fa m i l y s e nt he r t o s t ud y i n t he Un it e d S t a t e s. S he e a r ne d a d e g r e e i n f i l m a nd A f r ic a n s t ud ie s a t H a mp sh i r e C ol le g e i n A m he r s t , M a s s., a nd c ol le c t-e d diverse credits , ranging from production runner on the 2005 f i lm The Constant Gardener to star of a Kenyan TV mini-series, Shuga. (She is f luent in her na-t ive Luo, Spanish, Swahi l i and English.) Nyong’o audit ioned

“ I t d o e s n’ t e s c a p e me fo r o n e momen t

t h a t s o mu c h i n my l i fe

i s t h a n k s t o s o mu c h

i n s omeo n e e l s e’s.”

joy pain

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for Slave whi le preparing to graduate from the prestigious Yale School of Drama.

Now, with a l l eyes on what she’ l l do next, Nyong’o refuses to stress about securing anoth-er role that ’s equal ly as cele-brated. “The bar has been set very high external ly and inter-nal ly ,” she says. “But I don’t want to feed into that pressure

son in the act ion-thri l ler Non-Stop. “It was the perfect ant i -dote to 12 Years a Slave, ’ ’ she says. “It was a di f ferent genre with di f ferent demands.”

Nyong’o’s s tr iking beauty and bold fashion choices have made her one of the most ta lked-about celebs on the red carpet. Never the gir l who thumbed through Vogue (now she appears in the

Nyong’o, a f reshman at Stetson Universi ty in DeLand, accom-panied his s ister to the Oscars and managed to get himsel f prominently featured in the sel-f ie engineered by host El len DeGeneres.

“She (Nyong’o) at tr ibutes to her success to a lot of other black actresses who made her bel ieve she could be some-

of expectat ion. This f i lm was so ful f i l l ing and art ist ic. I ’ve tast-ed that and I obviously want to experience that kind of creat ive ful f i l lment again, but I a lso know that I can’t repl icate that . I want a var ied act ing experi-ence and that may include some fai lure and that’s healthy.”

Actual ly , Nyong’o’s next f i lm is a lready out. She plays a f l ight at tendant opposite Liam Nee-

magazine as the face of fashion house Miu Miu), Nyong’o began buying fashion magazines in preparat ion for a l l of the for-mal events she expected to at-tend fol lowing the success of 12 Years.

“I was l ike, ‘Okay, I have to re-search,’ “ she told USA Today.

Her brother a lso became a bi t of a s tar Sunday night. Peter

thing and that she could make i t in f i lm,” Maathai said. “And I think i t ’s so important to have role models, so important to have people who you can say, ‘Ah, i f she made i t , maybe I can too.’”

Report ing: Associated Press ,

tmz.com, Orlando Sent inel

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Lupita Nyong’o is one of seven black females in history to win an Academy Award for her role in a motion picture

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I hope that my presence on your screen and my face in magazines

may lead you, young girls, on a beautiful journey.

photographed by Mario Anzuoni