Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o already snagged the title of best actress – and now she can count herself most beautiful.
The “12 Years a Slave” star was named People magazine’s Most Beautiful person in this year’s “50 Most Beautiful” issue that hits newsstands Friday. Nyong’o appears on the issue’s cover flashing a sweet smile and wearing natural-looking makeup.
“It was exciting and just a major, major compliment,” she told the magazine. “I was happy for all the girls who would see me on [it] and feel a little more seen.”
Nyong’o, 31, may be one of Hollywood’s “it” girls now, but she wasn’t always so confident about her appearance. The Mexican-born, Kenyan-raised actress used to compare herself to the lighter-skinned women she saw on TV, an issue she raised in a speech at the Black Women in Hollywood luncheon in February that later went viral.
“Light skin and long, flowing, straight hair,” she told People. “Subconsciously you start to appreciate those things more than what you possess.”
Not that she feels that way anymore. Growing up, her mother Dorothy, a managing director for the Africa Cancer Foundation, always told her she was beautiful.
“And I finally believed her at some point,” she said.
Nyong’o never shied away from bold hairstyles either: She dyed her hair several colors as a teenager and even shaved off all of her locks once.
“It was very strange and very cold!” she said.
Though the natural beauty is often praised for her looks and impeccable red carpet style, she doesn’t take too much stock in it.
“Happiness is the most important thing,” she told the magazine.
In early April, Nyong’o was named the newest face for Lancôme, becoming the company’s first black ambassador.