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Top American magazine honours Lupita

By ELVIS ONDIEKI January 29th, 2017 3 min read

Lupita Nyong’o has been featured among a star-studded cast of Hollywood actresses appearing on the cover of the latest edition of America’s Vanity Fair Magazine.

After previously appearing on the cover of Vogue in three different editions, the 33-year-old Kenyan, an Oscar winner who has also become a fashion icon, has started 2017 on a high in a group cover photograph in Vanity Fair, alongside three other Hollywood stars.

The popular monthly culture magazine releases its special Hollywood issue annually at around the time when nominations for the Oscars are announced. The edition celebrates the top celebrities in the US movie scene.

“Lupita Nyong’o is a message amplifier: only a small handful of major screen credits to her name but what a solid thump they have made,” states the magazine’s writer James Wolcott on the 2017 issue.

Mr Wolcott then explains how Lupita has dazzled American audiences in the various Hollywood projects she has participated in, from 2014’s blockbuster 12 Years a Slave to the Black Panther movie that is in the works.

“Fortitude also forms the mortar of her performance in Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe as Nakku Harriet, the Mother Courage of a family of hungry, unschooled children in a teeming, poor, ramshackle township in Uganda where skyscrapers stand in the hazy distance like the Emerald City of Oz,” he writes of her role in the 2016 movie that was shot in Uganda.

On the Vanity Fair cover, Lupita strikes a sideways pose, donning a shimmery dress that reveals her flawless shoulders. On her face is a somewhat poignant look as she perches on a seat. The three other actresses on the cover are on their feet.

CONGRATULATIONS

“Ecstatic to be on the @VanityFair cover with these phenomenal women!” Lupita posted on Facebook and Twitter on Thursday, accompanied by an image of the magazine cover.

Her Facebook fans replied by the hundreds, most of them congratulating her on how elegant she looked.

“Unique beauty queen! You really refreshed the African beauty! You gave our daughters reason to believe in themselves as Africans in this era! Thank you for this!” wrote Leah Mugambi.

Sean William Birch typed: “Lupita will forever be the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.”

A light-hearted comment came from one Jimmy Nyaga, who implied that it is about time that Lupita, a daughter of Kisumu Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o, sought a political seat in Kenya.

“Lupita now, it is time you need to come back to Kenya for election. We are registering as voters now,” stated Mr Nyaga.

BLACK PANTHER

Marvin Jones said: “You should [have been] the only one on the cover.” In the current edition, a total of 11 actresses are featured, down from 13 in 2016.

Besides the three that appear on the front cover with Lupita, others are on the back cover. Last year, Lupita was among the nine on the back cover.

The other actresses honoured in the 2017 issue are Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Janelle Monáe, Dakota Johnson, Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning, Ruth Negga, Aja Naomi King, Greta Gerwig and Amy Adams.

“The 11 actresses who posed… for 2017’s Hollywood Portfolio have rivetted movie-goers this year, in a stunning range of cinematic styles,” states Vanity Fair on its website.

Lupita has had a busy start to 2017 as she is currently taking part in the production of Black Panther.  On Tuesday, she posted a photo on her Twitter account with a simple message: “Rolling.” She then mentioned Black Panther as a hashtag.

“While it could be a cold day in Atlanta, this also could be a way of covering up her costume. The Wakandan costumes are sure to be extravagant, so any details there could potentially spoil some plot info,” speculates comicbook.com.

Lupita has also tweeted about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a sequel of the Star Wars science-fiction movie that is scheduled for release in December.

Her followers can only keep guessing what role she will play in it, having played the role of a goggle-eyed pirate in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.