Newcomer Lupita Nyong’o was poised enough to get through her speech but emotional enough to guarantee she meant every single word of her Oscar acceptance speech. After a rousing round of applause and a hug from her 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen, Nyong’o embraced the Oscar statuette and thanked the Academy for the incredible honor. She also talked about how she realizes the joy she’s experiencing in her life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s, and she saluted Patsy as well as the real Solomon Northup whose memoir inspired the film.
“Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,” said Nyong’o. “Thank you so much for putting me in this position. This has been the joy of my life. I’m certain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they are grateful and so am I.
Chiwetel, thank you for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into telling Solomon’s story. Michael Fassbender, thank you so much. You were my rock. Alfre and Sarah, it was a thrill to work with you. Joe Walker, the invisible performer in the editing room, thank you. Sean Bobbitt, Kalaadevi, Adruitha, Patty Norris, thank you, thank you, thank you, I could not be here without your work.”
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