--- description: It's not often you see Lupita Nyong'o — who may well win the Best Supporting Actress statuette at this weekend's Oscars — in the same... title: Give All the Awards to Lupita Nyong’o for Her Inspirational Speech About Beauty image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47298b6bb0f7905/6986839d35ba6f5d03c00bef/140228-lupita.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 * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Give All the Awards to Lupita Nyong'o for Her Inspirational Speech About Beauty  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 28, 2014 8:04 PM CUT  Lupita Nyong'o attends the 7th annual ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood luncheon on Feb. 27, 2014 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Lupita Nyong'o attends the 7th annual ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood luncheon on Feb. 27, 2014 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 28, 2014 8:04 PM CUT It’s not often you see Lupita Nyong’o — who may well win the [Best Supporting Actress](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/26/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/ "undefined") statuette at this weekend’s Oscars — in the same sentence as “unbeautiful.” In addition to her acclaimed role in _12 Years a Slave_, she’s nabbed high-end fashion endorsement deals and has become one of the most-watched red-carpet regulars in Hollywood. (**PHOTOS:** [TIME’s Portraits of the Winning Actors from the 2014 Oscars](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/03/03/oscars-2014-winning-actors-time-photos/ "undefined")) But — as the actress told the crowd yesterday at the annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon organized by _Essence_ (which is owned by the same parent company as TIME) — she didn’t always feel deserving of the attention. In accepting her award for Best Breakthrough Performance, Nyong’o took the opportunity to address her own evolving thoughts about beauty and race. (**PHOTOS**: [Your Favorite Celebs on the Red Carpet](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/03/02/your-favorite-celebrities-walk-the-2014-oscars-red-carpet/ "undefined")) She explained that she received a letter from a dark-skinned girl who decided not to lighten her skin after being inspired by Nyong’o. It reminded Nyong’o that she, too, used to feel that her skin kept her from being beautiful — until a celebrity changed that for _her_: --- > “” --- You can (and should) [read the acceptance speech in full over at](http://www.essence.com/2014/02/27/lupita-nyongo-delivers-moving-black-women-hollywood-acceptance-speech "undefined")[ _Essenc_](http://www.essence.com/2014/02/27/lupita-nyongo-delivers-moving-black-women-hollywood-acceptance-speech "undefined")[_e_](http://www.essence.com/2014/02/27/lupita-nyongo-delivers-moving-black-women-hollywood-acceptance-speech "undefined"), but it’s worth noting that Nyong’o’s story about Alek Wek is a reminder of one important consequence of a lack of diversity [in Hollywood](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/13/agencies-hollywood-racial-diversity/ "undefined") and [in the fashion world](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/09/17/naomi-campbell-racist-runways-must-end/ "undefined"). Though diversity studies tend to concentrate on numbers and percentages, personal anecdotes like the one Nyong’o related remind us that it _does_ matter to viewers that they see themselves represented in the media. After all, if it takes a celebrity to make someone like _her_ feel pretty, imagine what it means to those who _aren’t_ destined for [style icon](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/lupita-nyong-style-icon-article-1.1703985 "undefined") status. (**MORE**: [Richard Corliss on why Lupita Nyong’o will win Best Supporting Actress](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/26/oscars-2014-best-supporting-actress-lupita-nyongo/ "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11692/lupita-nyongo-essence-black-beauty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11692/lupita-nyongo-essence-black-beauty/"},"headline":"Give All the Awards to Lupita Nyong'o for Her Inspirational Speech About Beauty","datePublished":"2014-02-28T20:04:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:32:56.848Z","description":"It's not often you see Lupita Nyong'o — who may well win the Best Supporting Actress statuette at this weekend's Oscars — in the same...","url":"https://time.com/11692/lupita-nyongo-essence-black-beauty/","keywords":["celebrities","12 Years a Slave","Race","beauty","Lupita Nyong'o","Speech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47298b6bb0f7905/6986839d35ba6f5d03c00bef/140228-lupita.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47298b6bb0f7905/6986839d35ba6f5d03c00bef/140228-lupita.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lupita Nyong'o","caption":"Lupita Nyong'o","creditText":"Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images","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/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11692/lupita-nyongo-essence-black-beauty/","name":"Give All the Awards to Lupita Nyong'o for Her Inspirational Speech About Beauty"}}]}] ```