Lupita Nyong'o wins the best supporting actress Oscar

Hollywood's new starlet takes her throne

Published March 3, 2014 3:52AM (EST)

Lupita Nyong'o, best supporting actress winner for her role in "12 Years a Slave", speaks on stage at the 86th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California March 2, 2014.   (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)
Lupita Nyong'o, best supporting actress winner for her role in "12 Years a Slave", speaks on stage at the 86th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California March 2, 2014. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Closing out the most closely-watched Oscar race of the year, Lupita Nyong'o of "12 Years a Slave" defeated Jennifer Lawrence of "American Hustle" -- and three more nominees -- to win her first Academy Award.

"It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else's," said Nyong'o at the podium, thanking director Steve McQueen and acknowledging the specific struggle of American slaves.

"No matter where you're from, you dreams are valid," Nyong'o, who was born in Mexico to parents of Kenyan extraction, told her audience.

For her part, Lawrence seemed happy to lose -- and rightly so. Nyong'o's acknowledgment of the pain of slavery in her speech was a tasteful reminder of just how worthy for further examination is the subject matter of "12 Years a Slave," still in the running for best picture.


By Daniel D'Addario

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