Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o dancing with Luo women from Vogue Photo Credit: Mario Testino

Nyong’o was born in Mexico City, Mexico after her family fled Kenya to escape from political persecution.  Later her family was able to return to Kenya where she was found her love of acting (Biography.com Editors).  She moved back to Mexico when she was16 where she learned Spanish for seven months (James).

During her early career, she works a lot behind the camera as a production assistant.  She returned to Kenya and got a role in a show called Shuga which discussed sexual relationships and safe sex practices as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.  In 2009 she produces and wrote a documentary that drew attention to people living with Albinism in Kenya (Biography.com Editors).

Composite photo of the cast of Shuga Photo Credit: Kathleen Anaza

Then she went to Yale for an MFA in acting.  Immediately after she was in the movie 12 Years a Slave which earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting actress.  She commented in her speech at the 2014 Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon on the beauty standards she grew up with and how she hated her dark skin and how she was honored to be a new source of representation against those standards (Rothman).

Lupita Nyong’o’s speech on Black Beauty

Then she appeared in Star Wars: New Hope, Black Panther, and Us. She got a lot of pushback on the voice she used for Red in Us because she pulled some of the influence from a neurological disorder call spasmodic dysphonia.  In an interview on The View, she said, “It’s a very marginal group of people who suffer from this … The thought that I would, in a way, offend them was not my intention. In my mind, I wasn’t interested in vilifying or demonizing the condition. I crafted Red with love and care. As much as it [was] in a genre-specific world, I really wanted to ground her in something that felt real. For all that, I say sorry to anyone that I may have offended” (Pulver).

Composite photo from a BBC 1 Interview

More recently she has written a children’s book called “Sulwe” which continues to dismantle the beauty standards comparing darker and lighter skin.  According to the book, Sulwe means star in Luo, her language.  She is also featured in Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” which works to the same goal of reminding people that dark skin is still beautiful (“Lupita Nyong’o.”).

Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” Music Video which features Lupita Nyong’o and many others

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Work Cited

Featured Photo courtesy of Jack Davison for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/09/magazine/lupita-nyongo-us.html

Biography.com Editors. “Lupita Nyong’o Biography” The Biography.com, 17 Feb. 2021, https://www.biography.com/actor/lupita-nyongo

James, Nickolas. 73 Questions with Lupita Nyong’o | Vogue. YouTube, 17 Sept. 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6znpZ5Ne1ZA. 

“Lupita Nyong’o.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 25 Feb. 2021, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Lupita-Nyongo. 

Morris, Wesley. “Why Is Hollywood Afraid of Lupita Nyong’o?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Dec. 2019, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/09/magazine/lupita-nyongo-us.html. 

Pulver, Andrew.  “Lupita Nyong’o apologies after Us ‘evil’ voice disability row” The Guardian, 1 Apr. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/01/lupita-nyongo-apologises-after-us-disability-voice-row

Rothman, Lily. “Give All the Awards to Lupita Nyong’s for Her Inspirational Speech About Beauty” Time, Time, 28 Feb. 2014, https://time.com/11692/lupita-nyongo-essence-black-beauty/