Lupita Nyong’o doesn’t like to talk about her Oscar in the press but Vulture has learned that she does hold an Oscar every day — a picture of one at least. At last night’s Cannes villa party for Calvin Klein and IFP Women in Film, veteran publicist Peggy Siegal went up to Nyong’o to ask he how she liked the coffee mug Siegal sent her with a picture of the 12 Years a Slave producers holding their statuette. “I didn’t know it was you who sent it!“ exclaimed Nyong’o. “I drink out of it every day.â€Â Siegal explained to Vulture and Jacob Bernstein of the New York Times that she’d sent coffee mugs with pictures of Oscar winners’ victorious moments on them to every Academy Award recipient. (Note to future master publicists: That’s how you curry favor like a pro.) Siegal had considered sending one of Nyong’o kissing her Oscar but had thought better of it. “I like mine,†said Nyong’o. “Especially because it doesn’t have my stupid face on it.â€
Nyong’o was animated at the party, dancing in the corner with a blazer over her shoulders and sitting in the front row during a performance by British singer Jessie Ware, who did a particularly cool, languid cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds.†Ware later said she was astonished that Nyong’o knew who she was, but apparently Nyong’o’s Non-Stop co-star Michelle Dockery (with whom she shares a stylist) is a huge fan and kept going on and on about the singer. Nyong’o was literally mum about anything regarding future projects, however. When I asked whether her role in The Jungle Book would be voice or motion capture, she drew her fingers across her mouth, locked it, and threw away the key. Then she said, “My lips are sealed.â€