60 Times Lupita Nyong'o Was Just Everything You've Ever Wanted to Be in Life

By Britt Stephens

Updated on 2/27/2020 at 1:14 PM

Getty | Matt Winkelmeyer

Getty | Jackson Lee

Lupita Nyong'o has definitely had an awesome few years — going from an almost complete unknown to becoming an Oscar winner and People magazine's most beautiful person of the year and a Broadway star and a horror movie queen. If that wasn't amazing enough, she's also part of the massive Star Wars movie franchise and the equally massive Marvel Universe (Wakanda forever!).

We're certainly glad that Lupita is still having a moment, because she is one of our favorite celebrities to watch (and not just because of her incredible acting talent and gorgeous sense of style). The 36-year-old has lots of cute moments on the red carpet with costars, and she's even more adorable when playing around on her must-follow Instagram account and winning over A-listers at events. Keep reading for all the times Lupita proved she was basically perfect.

01

When She Served Us Power Suit Realness at a SXSW Brunch — Getty | Robin Marchant

When She Served Us Power Suit Realness at a SXSW Brunch

02

When She Channeled Her Us Character For a Fabulous Look at the Movie's London Screening — Getty | Mike Marsland

When She Channeled Her Us Character For a Fabulous Look at the Movie's London Screening

03

When She Posed Near a "Caution" Sign Because She Looked Dangerously Good — Getty | Raymond Hall

When She Posed Near a "Caution" Sign Because She Looked Dangerously Good

04

When She Gave Cameras a Soft Smile While Heading to Good Morning America — Getty | Jackson Lee

When She Gave Cameras a Soft Smile While Heading to Good Morning America

05

When Her Laugh Lit Up the Room at a Screening of the Movie Us — Getty | Lars Niki

When Her Laugh Lit Up the Room at a Screening of the Movie Us

06

When She Gave a Little Shimmy at the British Academy Britannia Awards — Getty | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin

When She Gave a Little Shimmy at the British Academy Britannia Awards

07

When the Sparkle of Her Dress (Almost) Matched Her Exuberance — Getty | Kevin Mazur

When the Sparkle of Her Dress (Almost) Matched Her Exuberance

08

When She Brought Her Unparalleled Beauty to the Critics' Choice Awards — Getty | David Crotty

When She Brought Her Unparalleled Beauty to the Critics' Choice Awards

09

When She Was Honored With the Montecito Award and Basked in Her Own Greatness — Getty | Matt Winkelmeyer

When She Was Honored With the Montecito Award and Basked in Her Own Greatness

10

When She Made Us Want to Take a Vacation ASAP — Getty | Craig Barritt

When She Made Us Want to Take a Vacation ASAP

11

When She Was Pretty in Pink — Getty | Alexander Tamargo

When She Was Pretty in Pink

12

When Her Swag Was Too Much For That Woman on the Left to Handle — Getty | Gotham

When Her Swag Was Too Much For That Woman on the Left to Handle

13

When She Was the Queen of Prints — Getty | Matt Winkelmeyer

When She Was the Queen of Prints

14

When She Glowed For the Gods — Getty | Jackson Lee

When She Glowed For the Gods

15

When She Perfected the Over-the-Shoulder Pose — Getty | Steve Granitz

When She Perfected the Over-the-Shoulder Pose

16

When She Gave Us Class and Elegance at the NAACP Image Awards — Getty | Gregg DeGuire

When She Gave Us Class and Elegance at the NAACP Image Awards

17

When She Effortlessly Pulled Off a Chic Rocker Look — Getty | Roy Rochlin

When She Effortlessly Pulled Off a Chic Rocker Look

18

When She Shared a Laugh With a Crowd at a Screening of the Movie Us — Getty | Brian Stukes

When She Shared a Laugh With a Crowd at a Screening of the Movie Us

19

When She Shut Down the Met Gala With a Show-Stopping Rainbow Ensemble — Getty | Rabbani and Solimene Photography

When She Shut Down the Met Gala With a Show-Stopping Rainbow Ensemble

20

When She Showed Us Mere Mortals How a True Goddess Strikes a Pose — Getty | Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

When She Showed Us Mere Mortals How a True Goddess Strikes a Pose

21

When She Looked Like a Ray of Sunshine While Promoting Her Book, Sulwe — Getty | Raymond Hall

When She Looked Like a Ray of Sunshine While Promoting Her Book, Sulwe

22

When She Radiated Glamour at the NYC Premiere of Little Monsters — Getty | Jamie McCarthy

When She Radiated Glamour at the NYC Premiere of Little Monsters

23

When She Was Simply Too Divine For This World — Getty | Bennett Raglin

When She Was Simply Too Divine For This World

24

When She Made Our Hearts Skip a Beat at the Screen Actors Guild Awards — Getty | Leon Bennett

When She Made Our Hearts Skip a Beat at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

25

When This Casual Achievement Happened — Getty | Jeff Kravitz

When This Casual Achievement Happened

26

When She Became the World's Cutest Knicks Fan — Getty | James Devaney

When She Became the World's Cutest Knicks Fan

27

When She Had This Reaction to Winning a Spirit Award — Getty | Kevin Mazur

When She Had This Reaction to Winning a Spirit Award

28

When She Got Down on the Dance Floor — Getty | Alberto E. Rodriguez

When She Got Down on the Dance Floor

29

When She Left Lunch Looking Like She'd Just Stepped Off a Runway — FameFlynet

When She Left Lunch Looking Like She'd Just Stepped Off a Runway

30

When She Hit the Beach Looking Like a Slice of Chocolate Cake Topped With Whipped Cream — AKM-GSI

When She Hit the Beach Looking Like a Slice of Chocolate Cake Topped With Whipped Cream

31

When She Wore 6,000 Pearls to the Oscars — Getty | Kevin Mazur

When She Wore 6,000 Pearls to the Oscars

32

When She Twirled For Her Life at the Cannes Film Festival — Getty | VALERY HACHE

When She Twirled For Her Life at the Cannes Film Festival

33

When She Was the Definition of Purple Reign — Getty | Jon Kopaloff

When She Was the Definition of Purple Reign

34

When She Took Over the Tonys — Getty | Dimitrios Kambouris

When She Took Over the Tonys

35

When She Had a Prom Moment With Michael B. Jordan — Getty | John Sciulli

When She Had a Prom Moment With Michael B. Jordan

36

When Jennifer Lawrence Couldn't Even Handle Her Awesomeness — Getty | Kevork Djansezian

When Jennifer Lawrence Couldn't Even Handle Her Awesomeness

37

When She Got a Bear Hug From Queen Oprah Winfrey — Getty | Christopher Polk

When She Got a Bear Hug From Queen Oprah Winfrey

38

When Emma Thompson Wanted to Photobomb Her — Getty | Gregg DeGuire

When Emma Thompson Wanted to Photobomb Her

39

When She Photobombed Jared Leto — Getty | Christopher Polk

When She Photobombed Jared Leto

40

Basically, Every Moment She's Had With Jared Leto — Getty | Kevin Mazur

Basically, Every Moment She's Had With Jared Leto

We wanted them to be a couple so, so badly.

41

When She Compared Guns With Nicole Kidman — Getty | John Shearer

When She Compared Guns With Nicole Kidman

42

When She Graciously Helped BFF Danai Gurira With Her Dress on the Red Carpet — Getty | Jemal Countess

When She Graciously Helped BFF Danai Gurira With Her Dress on the Red Carpet

43

When She Nailed Her First Vogue Cover — Vogue | Mikael Jansson

When She Nailed Her First Vogue Cover

44

And Her First Met Gala Red Carpet — Getty | Kevin Mazur

And Her First Met Gala Red Carpet

45

When She Took Her Hair to New Heights — Getty | Mike Coppola

When She Took Her Hair to New Heights

46

When She Served You 👏🏾 THIS 👏🏾 LOOK — Getty | David M. Benett

When She Served You 👏🏾 THIS 👏🏾 LOOK

47

When She Looked Like the Christmas Present You Didn't Deserve — Getty | John Lamparski

When She Looked Like the Christmas Present You Didn't Deserve

48

When She Inspired Women to Lift Each Other Up — Getty | Nicholas Hunt

When She Inspired Women to Lift Each Other Up

49

And Let the Men Know Their Time Is Up — Getty | Amanda Edwards

And Let the Men Know Their Time Is Up

50

When She Landed at LAX Looking Like a Boss — Getty | GVK/Bauer-Griffin

When She Landed at LAX Looking Like a Boss

51

When She Proved That Representation Matters — Getty | Kevin Mazur

When She Proved That Representation Matters

52

When She Slayed Your Entire Galaxy — Getty | Victor Chavez

When She Slayed Your Entire Galaxy

53

When She Awakened the Force Within You — Getty | Mike Marsland

When She Awakened the Force Within You

54

When She Came Through Like the Duchess of Wakanda — Getty | Samir Hussein

When She Came Through Like the Duchess of Wakanda

55

When She Twirled on Her Haters — Getty | Pascal Le Segretain

When She Twirled on Her Haters

56

When She Came Through Drippin' — Getty | Gilbert Carrasquillo

When She Came Through Drippin'

57

When She Gave Dionne From Clueless a Run For Her Money — Getty | Taylor Hill

When She Gave Dionne From Clueless a Run For Her Money

58

When She Showed Us All How Wakanda Does It — Getty | Taylor Hill

When She Showed Us All How Wakanda Does It

59

When She Shined Brighter Than the Sun — Getty | Presley Ann

When She Shined Brighter Than the Sun

60

When She Looked. Like. THIS. — Getty | Monica Schipper

When She Looked. Like. THIS.