<P> In 2015 Nyong'o returned to stage with a starring role as an unnamed girl in the play Eclipsed, written by Danai Gurira . The play takes place during the chaos of the Second Liberian Civil War, where the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a community, until the balance of their lives are upset by the arrival of a new girl (played by Nyong'o). Eclipsed became The Public Theater's fastest - selling new production in recent history and won Nyong'o an Obie Award for Outstanding Performance . The play premiered on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre the following year . It was the first play to premiere on Broadway with an all - black and female creative cast and crew . Nyong'o said that she understudied the play at Yale in 2009 and was terrified to play the character on stage . Her performance met with critical acclaim . The New York Times' critic Charles Isherwood called Nyong'o "one of the most radiant young actors to be seen on Broadway in recent seasons, shines with a compassion that makes us see beyond the suffering to the indomitable humanity of its characters ." Nyong'o's performance in Eclipsed earned her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway or Off - Broadway Debut Performance, an Obie Award for a Distinguished Performance by an Ensemble, and a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play . In addition, she was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Play at the Outer Critics Circle Award and a Distinguished Performance Award at the Drama League Award . Nyong'o said that she turned down Hollywood films for the part . </P> <P> Nyong'o co-starred in Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book (2016), a live - action / animated movie, voicing Raksha, a mother wolf who adopts Mowgli (played by Neel Sethi). Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote in his review that Nyong'o brought a "gentle dignity" to her role . She later co-starred in Mira Nair's Queen of Katwe (2016), a biopic based on the true story about the rise of a young Ugandan chess prodigy, Phiona Mutesi (played by Madina Nalwanga), who becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her performances at World Chess Olympiads . Nyong'o played Phiona's protective mother, Nakku Harriet . Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com said, "Nyong'o is phenomenal . She has an incredible ability to convey backstory ." Geoff Berkshire of Variety called Nyong'o's performance "Simply radiant in her first live action role since winning an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave (...) she imbues what could have been a stock mother figure with such inner fire that Harriet feels worthy of a movie all her own ." </P> <P> Nyong'o reprised her role as Maz Kanata in Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). The following year, she starred as spy Nakia, a former member of Dora Milaje, a team of women who serve as special forces of Wakanda and personal bodyguards to T'Challa / Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), in Ryan Coogler's superhero film Black Panther (2018), which marked the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Nyong'o learned to speak Xhosa for the part, and trained in judo, jujitsu, silat and Filipino martial arts . David Betancourt of The Washington Post wrote that the film "takes superhero cinema where it's never gone before by not being afraid to embrace its blackness"; he particularly praised the portrayal of Nyong'o's character for avoiding stereotypical depictions of a black leading lady, writing that she "throws punches, shoots guns and steals hearts in a role she seems born for ." Black Panther earned over $1.34 billion to emerge as the ninth highest - grossing film of all time . Nyong'o received a Saturn Award for Best Actress nomination for the film . </P> <P> As of 2018, Nyong'o will be making her writing debut with a book entitled Sulwe, which will be published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers . Sulwe (Luo for star) is the story of a five year old Kenyan girl, who has the darkest complexion in her family, for which Nyong'o drew upon her own childhood experiences . On screen, she will star as a teacher named Miss Caroline in Abe Forsythe's horror - romance Little Monsters . Nyong'o is also developing a television series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah, which she will produce and star in . In addition, she will produce and star in Born a Crime, a film adaptation of Trevor Noah's memoir of the same name, in which she will play Noah's mother, Patricia; will star alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King, a drama based on the Dahomey Amazons; and will lend her voice to play the Giant in the live - animation film Jack . She has also committed to star in a remake of John Woo's action thriller The Killer, Simon Kinberg's ensemble spy - thriller 355, and Jordan Peele's horror film Us . </P>

Twelve years a slave actress who plays nakia