After CB and I saw 12 Years a Slave this weekend, I think she’s become a ride-or-die loonie for Chiwetel Ejiofor (she really wants him to win Best Actor now). But for me, Lupita Nyong’o was the delicate, tragic heart of the film and I really want her to rule the awards season (I want Chiwetel to win stuff too, but I’m ride-or-die for Lupita now). The Best Supporting Actress category is going to be just as stacked as the Best Actor category – there is an embarrassment of riches this year when it comes to supporting ladies, from Julia Roberts in August: Osage County, to Oprah in The Butler, to Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine (I love Hawkins but that role isn’t particularly award-worthy to me), to Octavia Spencer in Fruitvale Station, to Amy Adams in American Hustle (maybe? Or is she the lead?).

Basically, it will boil down to Julia versus Oprah versus Lupita. Who will come out victorious? As I’ve said before, there’s a possibility in my mind that Oprah will back away from campaigning if she wants Lupita to get it. And now my theory might be actualized! Vanity Fair has a new interview with Lupita where she talks about meeting – and getting a hug from – THE OPRAH.

These days are a bit of a blur for Lupita Nyong’o, the breakout actress whose supporting role in 12 Years a Slave has been earning her accolades since the drama’s Toronto Film Festival premiere. Her performance as Patsey, the prized slave and brutalized love interest of an abusive slave owner (Michael Fassbender) is one of the most heart-wrenching threads in Steve McQueen’s epic ensemble. Already a favorite for next year’s Best Picture Oscar, the film has earned countless endorsements from everyone including Oprah, who teared up at the mere mention of the historical drama during an interview with BBC before dismissing the film as too “devastating” to discuss.

At the Fox Searchlight holiday party in Los Angeles on Friday though, Nyong’o told us that it was Oprah who recently rendered her speechless during her most surprising interaction of the award season lead-up. “I did the Hollywood Reporter roundtable with her,” Nyong’o remembered, explaining that the talk legend sneak-attacked her. “I was sitting at my makeup station and the hair stylist looked at me in the mirror and mouthed, ‘Oprah.’ I was like, ‘What?!’ It was like slow motion. I got up. I turned around and she was there. Her arms were outstretched and she gave me a big hug. She was like, ‘You were amazing!’”

How does one even respond to such unexpected affection from the world’s reigning media empress? “I was like, ‘Hi Oprah,’” she said, squeaking out the last two words. “It just happened. Time is a blur. I don’t even know what day it is. She was just such a lovely woman. So ordinary and yet so extraordinary.”

Her interaction was made slightly less intimidating by the fact that, minutes before, she had been introduced to some other Hollywood heavyweights. “Before that, I had just met Emma Thompson and Julia Roberts. By the time I met [Oprah], I was a little numb. And then the next day, I met Harrison Ford.”

It has been a whirlwind year for the Kenyan actress. After filming 12 Years a Slave shortly after her graduation from Yale’s School of Drama, Nyong’o barely had time to decompress from the psychologically draining experience before moving all of her worldly possessions to Brooklyn.

“I had no time to just chill,” she explained. She said that her only way of unwinding from Patsey during this hectic time was the occasional massage, plus “meditation, listening to music, and eating good food.” While other acting peers might be jealous of a classmate who is getting Oscar buzz a year after graduation, Nyong’o says that her classmates “are thrilled” for her. “I come from a very close class. I lucked out because drama schools are often very competitive . . . I have fourteen classmates.” She admitted that while she’s trying to keep her hopes tempered, they would be upset if she does not get any nominations come winter.

In the meantime, the actress has already switched acting gears by filming a contemporary action thriller with Liam Neeson which is due in theaters in February, shortly before the 2014 Oscars. About an Air Marshall who must save an international flight from peril, the film has a very fitting title for the busy actress and serious awards season contender: Non-Stop.

[From Vanity Fair]

Lupita’s next movie is a shoot ‘em up Liam Neeson film? Is that bad news or good news? I don’t know. But I know the hug from Oprah was good news. Oprah can pull rank like nobody’s business, and if Oprah wanted to show little Lupita who was top dog, she would have. But I think Oprah must have seen 12 Years a Slave and just decided that Lupita deserves all of the acclaim she’s getting.

Also, what do you think about this? “She admitted that while she’s trying to keep her hopes tempered, they would be upset if she does not get any nominations come winter.” Now I’m worried. She’s definitely going to be nominated, right?

Photos courtesy of WENN.