Lupita Nyong’o named PEOPLE’s Most Beautiful Woman!

Posted by | Cyrena Rose

Drum role please………People Magazine has named their “Most Beautiful” and the cover goes to; Lupita Nyong’o!

The actress, 31, was People‘s 25th “Most Beautiful” star.  She shot to fame as the slave Patsey in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave and won an Academy Award for the role.  Nyong’o recently landed a contract with the luxury beauty product brand Lancôme Paris.

Lupita told People that while growing up, she equated beauty with “light skin and long, flowing, straight hair,” and as a teen died her hair every color except blond and even shaved her head.

When she was honored in February at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon, a speech she gave on beauty and “dark beauty” in particular touched a viral nerve. She said she remembered a time when she felt “unbeautiful,” when she was “teased and taunted for her night-shaded skin” and how her complexion “had always been an obstacle to overcome.”

Growing up in Kenya, Nyong’o’s mother, who is the managing director and head of PR for the Africa Cancer Foundation, “always said I was beautiful,” the actor said. “And I believed her at some point.”

This is the 25th year of People’s Most Beautiful issue. Michelle Pfeiffer graced the first cover in 1990, and Julia Roberts has the most cover appearances, with four (1991, 2000, 2005, 2010). The magazine also noted that Halle Berry has appeared in the pages of the issue 16 times and once on the cover (2003). Three men have graced the cover: Mel Gibson (1996); Tom Cruise (1997); and Leonardo DiCaprio (1998).

TODAY‘s Savannah Guthrie recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Nyong’o, who expressed her appreciation for the People cover nod and shared a story about the craziest thing to happen during her run as a newfound “it girl.”

“I was sitting, getting my hair cut, and someone passed by, and peered in and said, ‘You’re really beautiful.'” Nyong’o told Guthrie. “And I said, ‘Thank you.’ And he said, ‘You know that girl in ’12 Years a Slave,’ that actress? You look just like her.’ I said, ‘Thank you so much.'”

Cute story!  This year’s issue hits newsstands on Friday.

Others on this year’s list of 50 include Keri Russell, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Mindy Kaling, Kerry Washington, Pink and Amber Heard.

 

 

Photo Credit | People Magazine