Oprah Winfrey Big Ups Lupita Nyong’o

So far, it has been a very fruitful year for Kenya’s film wonder kid, Lupita Nyong’o as far as her Hollywood career is concerned. After filming 12 Years a Slave shortly after her graduation from Yale’s School of Drama, Lupita’s star started rising.

Despite the fact that Oprah Winfrey and Lupita will be competing against each other for Best Supporting Actress at the 86th annual Academy Awards ceremony, the TV show queen had some kind words for the great daughter of Kenya.

Speaking to Vanity Fair’s Julie Miller at Fox Searchlight’s holiday party in Los Angeles, Nyong’o relayed a story about meeting Winfrey for the first time.

“I did the Hollywood Reporter roundtable with her. I was sitting at my makeup station and the hair stylist looked at me in the mirror and mouthed, ‘Oprah.’ I was like, ‘What?!'” Nyongo’o, who stars in Fox Searchlight’s 12 Years A Slave, told Miller. “It was like slow motion. I got up. I turned around and she was there. Her arms were outstretched and she gave me a big hug. She was like, ‘You were amazing!'”

Oprah, who plays a key supporting role in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” has said she was profoundly affected by 12 Years A Slave, which is based on the memoir by Solomon Northup and provides a first-hand account of his time spent as a slave in Louisiana.

“It’s impossible for me to talk about it,” Oprah said in an interview with the BBC. “I can’t even talk about it. Devastating.”

[Huffington Post]