African Celebrities: Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Amondi Nyong'o is a Kenyan actress, film director, and music video director. She was born on March 1, 1983 in Mexico City, Mexico to Dorothy and Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, a politician in Kenya. She is of Luo descent and is the second of six children. Her father was the former Kenyan Minister for Medical services. At the time of Lupita's birth, he was a visiting lecturer in political science at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, and her family had been living Mexico for three years.

Lupita Nyong'o moved back to Kenya with her parents when she was less than one year old, when her father was hired as a professor at the University of Nairobi. She grew up primarily in Kenya. At age sixteen, her parents sent her back to Mexico for seven months to learn Spanish. She lived in Taxco, Mexico and took classes at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico's Learning Center For Foreigners.

Lupita Nyong'o currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is fluent in English, Spanish, Swahili and Luo.

Lupita Nyong'o made her American film debut in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Patsey. Lupita Nyong'o graduated from Yale with a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) in 2012.

On January 18, 2014, Lupita won the Best supporting Actress award at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work in the film, 12 Years a Slave.