06/03/2024
Today is Lupita Nyong’o’s 41st birthday. Born in Mexico City to Kenyan parents, her father was a visiting lecturer in political science at El Colegio de Mexico at the time of her birth. Nyong’o and her family returned to Kenya when she was less than one year old. She grew primarily in the city of Nairobi. She attended Rusinga International School in Kenya and acted in school plays.
At age 14, Nyong’o made her professional acting debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She credited the performances of Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in the movie The Color Purple (HBO Max) to inspire her to pursue acting. At 16, her parents sent her to Mexico to learn Spanish as she took classes at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico’s Learning Centre for Foreigners and then she attended St. Mary’s School in Nairobi where she earned an IB Diploma in 2001. Following that, Nyong’o went to the United States to attend Hampshire College where she graduated with a degree in film and theatre studies. After starting her career as part of the production crew for several movies, she then attended the Yale School of Drama and gradated in 2013.
After her graduation, Nyong’o was cast in the movie 12 Years a Slave (Hulu and HBO Max) which earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was then cast in the new Star Wars Trilogy (Disney+) as Maz Kanata. Other movies credits include 2016 live action/CGI adaptation of The Jungle Book (Disney+), Queen of Katwe (Disney+), Marvel Studios’ Black Panther (Disney+), Little Monsters (Hulu and Max), and Us (Sling TV). More recently, she starred in the ensemble spy-thriller The 355 (Peacock) and named by Forbes Magazine as one of Africa’s “50 Most Powerful Women”. Nyong’o reprised her role as Nakia in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney+). What happens to be your favorite Lupita Nyong’o movie role?
