Lupita Nyong'o & Winston Duke Boast Credits From Yale & Music Videos

Source: Daniel Boczarski / Getty

With less than two weeks until its premiere date, the horror flick Us is already making a name for itself in the movie world.

The Jordan Peele-directed flick already screened at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas on Friday, and critics are showering it with praise.

“It’s official: Jordan Peele is the new Spielberg. #Us is going to be one of the biggest movies of the year,” said author Ramin Setoodeh.

The film’s two leads Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o also received a lot of accolades with Lupita already getting Oscar talk.

“It’s safe to say that #UsMovie further proves that @Lupita_Nyongo is one of the finest actresses of her generation,” wrote film industry professional Matt Dentler.

“My review for #UsMovie. Lupita is about to win another Oscar but this time as lead actress. She should actually win 2,” tweeted director Matthew A. Cherry.

Did we mention Lupita completely slayed on the SXSW red carpet as well…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Buxq831hhwN/

It should be noted that Lupita and Winston aren’t new to having success in the arts together.

Before Winston gain international attention in Black Panther last year and before Lupita broke hearts in her Oscar-winning performance for 12 Years A Slave, the two attended Yale School of Drama together for the master’s program.

Winston even talked about how they once dreamed of being in a superhero flick, and their vision came true when they booked Black Panther together, which was Winston’s first movie.

But even before Yale, Lupita was doing big things, and Winston was definitely getting warmed up for stardom before Black Panther arrived.

Hit the next pages to peep what Lupita and Winston were up to before they became famous.

Lupita Nyong’o

Before Lupita even secured Yale’s grad program, the Mexico-born Kenyan graduated from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, then left for Kenya to produce a music video for Kenyan musician Wahu and Ugandan musician Bobi Wine. The video for their song “Little Things You Do” won Best Video at the 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards.

In 2009, Lupita also directed and produced the documentary In My Genes, which follows the ups and downs of an albino woman in Kenya.

Despite her boss-like moves behind the camera, Lupita still didn’t stray from her acting dreams though. In 2008, she made her movie debut in the short film East River about a Brooklyn wonderer who sparks a relationship with Lupita’s character. The flick went on to screen at various festivals.

Not too shabby for someone who barely started her Yale classes yet. When Lupita finally did graduate from Yale in 2012, she immediately got her big break by starring as Patsey in 12 Years A Slave. 

The rest is history.

Winston Duke

Winston secured his Yale Fine Arts degree in 2013, but unlike Lupita, he didn’t have immediate mainstream success.

He did however make some noteworthy appearances in hit television shows.

Of course he had his crime drama cameo, which is common for most actors, when he appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But then, he had a recurring role as Dominic Besson on the sci-fi crime drama Person of Interest in 2014 and by 2016, he had a three-episode arc on Modern Family playing a star football player taken in by Cameron and Mitchell.

Two years after this, everything would change with Black Panther, and his character M’Baku became a certified sex symbol.

There’s nowhere to go but up for the over 6 feet actor.

You can watch him give another career boosting performance in Us when it hits theaters March 22!