I didn't see "12 Years a Slave" (yet!) or hear of Lupita Nyong'o before the Oscar-winning film, but I was definitely struck by her appearance at the Oscars. So was People Magazine. They gave Nyong'o their iconic "Most Beautiful" award (for women, the men are announced in November) for 2014, Entertainment Tonight reported.
So also was Yahoo! fashion editor-in-chief Joe Zee.
"You look at her wearing the Oscar de la Renta dress... it takes a really bold personality to take a dress off the runway and literally wear it with such sophistication," Zee told Entertainment Tonight. "And of course the true sign of any style icon is when they can make a young designer that is relatively unknown known, and I think that's what she's doing when she's wearing Rosie Assoulin."
Nyong'o, 31, graduated from Hampshire College and later earned a master's degree in acting from Yale. Before "12 Years a Slave," she was famous only to the few who'd seen the short film "East River" and the Kenyan TV series, "Shuga."
As a 16 year-old Nyong'o was sent to Mexico (where she was born before moving to Kenya at the age of three) to learn Spanish. Her first name, Lupita, is Spanish and was chosen out of respect for her place of birth.
For Mr. Nyongo's job as a college professor, the family traveled often during their daughter's early childhood. Her worldliness was evident in her Oscars speech -- so much so that I couldn't place her accent. She speaks three languages: English, Swahili, and Spanish.
"Lupita was the absolute perfect choice for People mag to name most beautiful," Zee said. "She can represent a diversity in beauty. She can represent this rock star quality in the world of fashion and at the same time this incredible talent in Hollywood.
"The first person to tell me I was beautiful was definitely my mother," said Lupita. "I finally believed her at some point."
Last year's female winner was Gwyneth Paltrow. The 2013 male winner was Adam Levine. Matt McConaughey won in 2005
