Lupita Nyong'o
 

Lupita Nyong'o is a Kenyan actress and filmmaker. She recently made her American film debut in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave as Patsey.


Personal life

Nyong'o was born in Mexico in 1983 to a Kenyan family and was raised primarily in Kenya.Her father is politician Peter Anyang' Nyong'o. He was the former Kenyan Minister for Medical Services and was elected in 2013 to represent Kisumu County in the Kenyan Senate. Her cousin Isis Nyong'o was named one of Africa's most powerful women by Forbes magazine in 2012.

Education and career

Nyong'o attended university in the United States. After graduating from Hampshire College with a degree in film and theatre studies, she worked on the production crew of many films, including Fernando Meirelles's The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, and Mira Nair's The Namesake. She starred in the 2008 short film East River, directed by Marc Grey and shot in Brooklyn, New York. She returned to Kenya in 2008 and starred in the Kenyan television series Shuga. In 2009, she wrote, directed, and produced the documentary In My Genes, about the treatment of Kenya's albino population, which played at several film festivals.

She subsequently enrolled in the acting program at the Yale School of Drama.[6] At Yale she appeared in many stage productions, including Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and The Winter’s Tale.

Nyong'o was cast in 12 Years a Slave immediately after her graduation from Yale in 2012. She will next be featured in Liam Neeson's upcoming film Non-Stop.

Filmography

Films

Film Year Title Role Notes
2008 East River Short
2013 12 Years a Slave Patsey Completed
2014 Non-Stop Gwen Post-Production

Television

Television Year Title Role Notes
2009 Shuga Ayira Miniseries
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2013 17th Hollywood Film Awards New Hollywood Award 12 Years a Slave Won

Lupita Nyong'o - 19th Annual Critics´ Choice Movie Awards in Santa Monica, 16.01.2014 - 81x
 

Lupita Nyong'o - 25th Annual Producers Guild of America Awards in Beverly Hills, 19.01.2014 - 26x
 

Lupita Nyong'o - "Non-Stop" premiere in LA, 24.02.2014 - 44x
 

Lupita Nyong'o - LoveGold Honors Academy Nominee in West Hollywood, 26.02.2014 - 4x
 

Lupita Nyong'o - Marie Claire's Fresh Faces Party at Soho House in West Hollywood - April 8,2014 (32x)
 

Lupita Nyong'o - 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles - April 12,2014 (63x)
 

Lupita Nyong'o - 2014 MTV Movie Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles - April 13,2014 (52x)
 

Lupita Nyong’o — Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Liberty State Park in Jersey City — May 31, 2014 (x40)
 

Lupita Nyong'o - 2014 CFDA fashion awards at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York - June 2, 2014 (145x) Part I