In preparing for her first film role as a petite, hard-laboring slave in "12 Years a Slave," actress Lupita Nyong'o sized herself up against 500 pounds of cotton, which her character Patsey picked every day.<br/> <br />"12 Years a Slave" is based on an 1853 memoir about a free black man tricked and sold into slavery.<br/> <br />Nyong'o's performance is one that has generated critical acclaim for the Hollywood newcomer and predictions she will earn a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.<br/> <br />Nyong'o said that director Steve McQueen showed her a part of Patsey that could not be enslaved.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave" co-star, saying (English):<br/> <br />"In playing her, I learned that you don't have to live a day free to know what freedom is. That it is actually a human instinct, this desire to be free."<br/> <br />The actress was born in Mexico 30 years ago where her Kenyan father was in political exile, but they moved back to Kenya when she was 1.<br/> <br />She was educated in the
