10 Best Lupita Nyong’o Movies

Fresh out of the Yale School of Drama, Nyong'o stunned the film world with her heartbreaking portrayal of Patsey, the enslaved cotton picker who must endure her master's (Michael Fassbender) brutal obsession. The scene in which she begs for nothing more than a bar of soap leaves a lump in your throat for days. Her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress was historic and more than deserved.

An absolute tour de force in a dual role. Jordan Peele had Nyong'o play both protective mother Adelaide and her terrifying doppelgänger Red. With a hoarse, rasping voice (inspired by the rare condition spasmodic dysphonia), golden scissors and mechanical movements, she created one of the most unsettling horror characters of this century.

Forget the standard monster movie: this is an intimate elegy disguised as a sci-fi thriller. Nyong'o plays Samira, a terminally ill woman who has only one last wish during the apocalyptic invasion of Manhattan: to eat a slice of pizza in Harlem with her cat Frodo. Her expressive eyes and ability to convey a sea of melancholy without dialogue make the film unexpectedly poetic.

As independent Wakandan spy Nakia, Nyong'o is the film's ideological conscience. Where others argue for isolationism, she fights to help the oppressed worldwide. Her dynamic with Chadwick Boseman is full of warm respect and equality, and her fighting skills with traditional ring blades are breathtaking.

In DreamWorks' visually stunning animated masterpiece, Nyong'o voices stranded robot Roz. She modulates her voice from a cold, preprogrammed factory tone to a warm, sensitive surrogate mother for an orphaned gosling. A wonderful feat of voice acting that left cinemas worldwide in tears.

After the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, the cast faced a heavy task, but Nyong'o gave Nakia a serene, mature dignity. Living in Haiti, she's a beacon of calm and peaceful strength for grieving Shuri and Queen Ramonda.

Filmed on location in Uganda, Nyong'o plays the proud, tireless mother of Phiona Mutesi, a young girl from the slums of Kampala who becomes a chess champion. Free of Hollywood clichés, she shows a fierce, protective strength as she keeps her family afloat by selling maize.

In a bright yellow sundress, with a ukulele and a bloodied shovel, kindergarten teacher Miss Caroline protects her class from a horde of zombies by convincing them it's all a game. Nyong'o singing Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' while fending off the undead is pure cult fun.

In Jon Favreau's groundbreaking photorealistic remake, Nyong'o voices wolf mother Raksha. Her promise that Mowgli will always be her son, no matter where he goes, gives the animal a deep, unconditional tenderness.

Hidden beneath a digital alien appearance, Nyong'o brought thousand-year-old pirate queen Maz Kanata to life through motion capture. Her piercing gaze through enormous lenses ('I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people') gave the new Star Wars trilogy an instantly wise, mysterious anchor.