Born in Mexico and raised in Kenya ( and now a resident of Brooklyn ), Nyong'o studied at the Yale School of Drama before scoring what has become her breakout role. She stars as Patsey in McQueen's searing drama, a slave who endures unspeakable acts of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her psychotic owner, played by fellow Oscar hopeful Michael Fassbender. (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt are among the film's other co-stars.) "This is Lupita's first movie. Think about where she goes from here," Sarah Paulson, who co-stars with Nyong'o in "12 Years A Slave," told HuffPost Entertainment in a recent interview. "It's like, 'Come on, lady. You've got 10 movies in your future that are not going to be as good as this, no matter how good they are. Just so you know. Then you'll have another great one.'" Come Oscar season, Lupita Nyong’o will be a household name,
Eric has training spanning over 20 years from the Makeup Academy School of Beauty in San Francisco, MAC Pro Cosmetics, Makeup Forever, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, Senna Cosmetics, Prescriptives, Black Opal, Devezin Cosmetics Los Angeles, etc. For many years he worked as an assistant for the Allen Edwards and Aveda Kriza salons in LA. He now freelances in a LA salon where makeup and skin care are offered and also provides freelance makeup artist services to local modeling agencies.