10 People Who Won An Oscar For Their First Ever Film

Anyone who witnessed Steve McQueen's period adaptation of Solomon Northup's 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years A Slave in cinemas was likely left reeling from this heartbreaking story about a man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

This true feature boasted a star-studded Hollywood supporting cast, with top names such as Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson and Paul Dano. However, much of the award season buzz was rightly centred around Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance as Northup and Lupita Nyong'o's turn as Patsey, a slave who ends up working alongside Northup on a cotton plantation.

Yet, where many were already well aware of Ejiofor from his appearances in films like American Gangster (2007), Children of Men (2006) and Inside Man (also, 2016), most people had never heard of the Yale School of Drama graduate before her spectacular debut.

Soon after the film was released, however, people far and wide were raving about her exceptional performance, and she went on to earn multiple Best Supporting Actress nominations for her work. Nyong'o then only went and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first Kenyan and Mexican performer to win an Oscar.

Following this marvellous first feature film performance, Nyong'o also excelled in projects like the latest Star Wars sequels (2015-19), Black Panther (2018) and Us (2019).