People magazine has placed the award-winning 12 Years a Slave actor at
the top of its annual poll, continuing a remarkable year for the star
Lupita Nyong'o arrives for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards in
Los Angeles, 13 April 2014.
Having starred in a Miu Miu campaign and been signed up as the
face of Lancôme within the past three months, Lupita Nyong’o’s
fashion ascent has been dizzying – and it keeps going.
Today,
People magazine declared the actress the most beautiful person in
the world.
Nyong’o was catapulted from obscurity to global fame late last
year thanks to her performance as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s 12
Years a Slave.
Throughout awards season her red carpet
appearances won her, and her stylist, acclaim in the fashion
industry, while much was written about her beauty. In January, for
example, Enuma Okoro said that “for black women especially,
she is a welcome sight in a public media eye that tends to obscure
the beauty of dark-skinned women, an acknowledged issue in
Hollywood circles”.
Many also celebrated the fact that Nyong’o
broke the Hollywood 'starlet' mould by having her big break at the
age of 30.
Though this latest accolade may not rank beside Nyong’o’s
Academy Award in terms of gravitas, it is an honour the actor has
gladly accepted. In an interview with the magazine, she said: "It
was exciting and just a major, major compliment ... I was happy
for all the girls who would see me on [the cover] and feel a little
more seen.
" The People magazine award has only been given to women of
colour three times since it was launched in 1990: Halle Berry in
2003, Jennifer Lopez in 2011 and Beyoncé in 2012. Previous
winners include Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio and
Michelle Pfeiffer. This year, Jennifer Lawrence, Mindy Kaling,
Pink and Kerry Washington also appeared in the list, which is
published in full on 25 April.
In February, Nyong’o gave a speech at Essence magazine’s Black
Women in Hollywood event, saying: “I remember a time when I
too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin. I got
teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one
prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up
lighter-skinned.” She spoke of her “self-hate” in adolescence and
her feelings of inspiration when the model Alex Wek rose to
prominence.
“I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a
woman who looked so much like me as beautiful ... a flower
couldn’t help but bloom inside of me.”
The Guardian
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