Lupita Nyong’o Threw a ‘Coming to America’ Theme Party

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has been a style icon from the moment she burst on the scene in 2013 with her Academy Award-winning role in 12 Years a Slave and began gracing the red carpet with a parade of colorful, flowy dresses and bold beauty looks. So it comes as no surprise that when the actress celebrated her 34th birthday with friends this past weekend, she and her fellow revelers came dressed to kill. What is a fun surprise, however, is the manner in which they did it: by dressing up as their favorite characters from the classic 1980s Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America.

The actress officially turned 34 on March 1, but she shared pictures from her theme party on Instagram just yesterday. The Star Wars actress, who has been making the press rounds most recently to promote her latest film, Queen of Katwe, posted pictures of herself from the birthday bash alongside her future Black Panther co-stars Danai Gurira and Chadwick Boseman, dressed as Imani Izzi (bride to Murphy’s Prince Akeem character) and Reverend Brown, respectively. Nyong’o herself was costumed as a lady in waiting. “We love #ComingToAmerica this much!” she captioned the first in a series of shots from the fabulous fete.

A quick refresher for those who might not remember the movie Nyong’o’s party paid tribute to: Released in 1988, Coming to America starred Murphy as Akeem, a pampered African prince who rebels against an arranged marriage in his home country and persuades his father, the king, to allow him 40 days in which to find and secure his own bride. On the hunt for his perfect queen, Akeem heads to — where else? — Queens, N.Y., in search of love, and ends up with a job in a fast-food chain and eventually, a romance with the boss’s daughter.

In her Instagram pictures, Nyong’o and friends are seen dressed up in the fashions of Akeem’s fictional home country, Zamunda, and commenters couldn’t get enough. “GIRL. I nearly fell over seeing this. The envy is SO real,” wrote one. “You guys look so beautiful!!!” posted another.

We simply say thank you for sharing. You made our Monday.

Related: The Sexiest Looks From Sunday’s iHeartRadio Music Awards

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