Lupita Nyong’o Wins Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 Oscars

Breakout star Lupita Nyong'o burst onto the scene with her stirring performance in Steve McQueen's '12 Years a Slave,' and now she earned herself the 2014 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

After losing the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress to Jennifer Lawrence, who starred in David O. Russell's 'American Hustle,' Nyong'o went on to score numerous honors from Austin Film Critics, Black Reel Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Screen Actors Guild and more.

Also nominated for the 2014 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress were Lawrence, June Squibb for 'Nebraska,' Julia Roberts for 'August: Osage County' and Sally Hawkins for 'Blue Jasmine.'

Directed by Steve McQueen, '12 Years a Slave' starred Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, an African-American musician who was born a free man in pre-Civil War upstate New York. When he is unceremoniously drugged and sold into slavery, he remains a slave for, as the title suggests, 12 years. Along his travels, he encounters Patsey, played by Nyong'o, the favored slave of a ruthless slave owner (Michael Fassbender).