--- description: It all comes down to Lawrence vs. Lupita — but isn't Jennifer Lawrence's trophy case getting a little crowded? title: Oscars 2014: Best Supporting Actress Prediction - Lupita Nyong'o image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd324de815c917f/6986831313c79fa9ba190c5c/original-3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Oscars 2014: Why Lupita Nyong'o Will Win Best Supporting Actress ## Video: Lupita Nyong'o: Behind the Scenes of TIME's Photo Shoot [Watch (HLS stream): Lupita Nyong'o: Behind the Scenes of TIME's Photo Shoot](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PZRN3ILd.m3u8) (1:07)  _Published 2014-02-20. Lupita Nyong'o shot by photographer Sebastian Kim_ by [Richard Corliss](/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2014 4:39 PM CUT  Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a SlaveFrancois Duhamel—Fox Searchlight by [Richard Corliss](/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2014 4:39 PM CUT **NOMINEES** Sally Hawkins, _Blue Jasmine_ Jennifer Lawrence, _American Hustle_ **Lupita Nyong’o,** **_12 Years a Slave_** [Julia Roberts](http://topics.time.com/julia-roberts/ "undefined"), _August: Osage County_ June Squibb, [_Nebraska_](http://topics.time.com/nebraska/ "undefined") Two dreams of an Oscar nomination: getting one with your first role in a feature film, as Nyong’o has; and being recognized, like Squibb, at 84, after a 60-year career in small roles in movies and TV shows, on Broadway and on the road. Before she secured the part of Bruce Dern’s wife — she of the ancient angelic face and the salty mouth (“I ain’t fiddlin’ with no cow titties, I’m a city girl”) — Squibb’s most notable credit was as a replacement in the original Broadway run of the musical _Gypsy_, in 1960\. She played Electra, the stripper with the flashing lights on her costume, singing the Styne-Sondheim “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” (“If you wanna make it, / Twinkle while you shake it”). A mere 53 years later: stardom! **(READ:** [**Corliss’ pick for Best Actor in the 2014 Oscars**](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/24/oscars-2014-best-actor-prediction/ "undefined")**)** Hawkins won many critics’ awards (but no Oscar nomination) for her role as the optimistic teacher in Mike Leigh’s _Happy-Go-Lucky_ in 2008; she becomes an Academy finalist playing [Cate Blanchett’s reality-based sister in _Blue Jasmine_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/07/25/blue-jasmine-a-woody-allen-woman-under-the-influence/ "undefined"). Roberts, who lends passion and bitterness to her role as [one of Meryl Streep’s rebellious daughters in _August: Osage County_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/09/11/august-osage-county-meryl-streep-and-julia-roberts-duke-it-out-for-next-years-oscar/ "undefined"), achieved movie fame in three short steps in her early twenties — _Mystic Pizza_, _Steel Magnolias_ and _Pretty Woman_, with nominations for the last two — and won her Oscar in 2001 for _Erin Brockovich_. She would be considered a prodigy among star actresses — unless her competition were Lawrence, Hollywood’s new great blond hope. **(READ:** [**Corliss’ pick for Best Actress in the 2014 Oscars**](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/24/oscars-2014-best-actress-cate-blanchett/ "undefined")**)** Nominated at 20 for Best Actress in the indie drama _Winter’s Bone_, Lawrence won last year as the truculent widow who gets Bradley Cooper to dance in David O. Russell’s _Silver Linings Playbook_; she was the second youngest winner in this category (after 21-year-old Marlee Matlin for _Children of a Lesser God_ in 1987). If the Academy blesses Lawrence for her film-stealing role as the sexy wife in Russell’s _American Hustle_, she would be the youngest performer with two competitive [Oscars](http://topics.time.com/oscars/ "undefined"). In between these award-winning turns, all she’s done is anchor the sensationally popular _Hunger Games_ franchise. With _The Hunger Games: Catching Fire_, she became the first actress since Julie Andrews in _The Sound of Music_ to be the top-billed female star of the year’s highest-grossing movie. **(READ:** [**Corliss’ pick for Best Supporting Actor in the 2014 Oscar** **_s_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/25/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actor-jared-leto/ "undefined")**)** There’s simply no comparing Lawrence’s saucy comedic brio in _American Hustle_ with Nyong’o’s long-suffering sanctity as [the prize property of sadistic Michael Fassbender in _12 Years a Slave_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/18/12-years-a-slave-an-unflinching-take-on-the-great-american-shame/ "undefined"). Nor do the usual auguries point to a clear winner. Nyong’o, raised in Kenya and a graduate of the Yale Drama School, won most of the critics’ prizes and the Screen Actor Guild award; Lawrence took the Golden Globe and BAFTA citations. We can safely predict that Nyong’o will be named Best Supporting Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards, held on her 30th birthday, the evening before the Oscars. (Lawrence is not nominated there, because the _American Hustle_ budget was too high for the movie to be eligible as an indie production.) **(READ: Lisa Schwarzbaum on** [**Nyong’o “the front runner”**](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2166060,00.html "undefined")**)** On Oscar night, it’s a coin toss — the closest race among the major categories. Our tentative guess: the Academy will decide that Lawrence, still only 23, will be around for ages to cop more statuary, and that Nyong’o and the searing film she represents is worthy of one acting award (plus, possibly, Best Picture). But we won’t be shocked if the golden girl with the throaty laugh is on stage to receive yet another item for her overstocked trophy case. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/"},"headline":"Oscars 2014: Why Lupita Nyong'o Will Win Best Supporting Actress","datePublished":"2014-02-26T16:39:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:29:44.546Z","description":"It all comes down to Lawrence vs. Lupita — but isn't Jennifer Lawrence's trophy case getting a little crowded?","url":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/","keywords":["movies","awards","Oscars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd324de815c917f/6986831313c79fa9ba190c5c/original-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Richard Corliss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd324de815c917f/6986831313c79fa9ba190c5c/original-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"12 Years a Slave","caption":"12 Years a Slave","creditText":"Francois Duhamel—Fox Searchlight","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/","name":"Oscars 2014: Why Lupita Nyong'o Will Win Best Supporting Actress"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Lupita Nyong'o: Behind the Scenes of TIME's Photo Shoot","description":"Lupita Nyong'o shot by photographer Sebastian Kim","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PZRN3ILd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-20T22:03:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PZRN3ILd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/","duration":"PT1M7S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/9936/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```