Lupita Nyong’o is letting go of her hair! The 40-year-old actress was spotted on Wednesday, May 10, rocking a freshly shaved head as she strolled through New York City’s East Village. In a snapshot taken of her, which can be viewed below, she looked like a model as she walked on a sidewalk with one hand in her pocket. She appeared to be in great spirits and dressed casually in boyfriend jeans, a highlighter yellow cropped sweater, and a denim jacket.
Lupita also took to Instagram on Wednesday to debut her newly shaved head and looked gorgeous as she grinned at the camera in the up-close selfie. “Happy without hair!” she captioned the pic before joking about joining the tribe of bald women warriors, Dora Milaje, that has been featured in two Marvel movies: Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War. “Application for the Dora Milaje submitted! …)” she wrote. Her before and after pics and video can be viewed below.
The Star Wars actress’ new look comes about three weeks after she gave herself a buzzcut, which can be seen below. Up until April 16, she was rocking sisterlocks, which she let fans watch her chop off in a theatric TikTok video. “It’s time to let you go. It’s sad, it’s oh so sad,” she said, preparing to part with her locks as the emotional 1991 ballad “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” played in the background. “You’ve been so good to me, you’ve been so thick! For the first time in my life. I’m gonna miss you.” She then started kissing her hand and patting it on her hair multiple times to make sure the universe knew she was thankful for it. “Come back again,” she added.
@
The video then switched to the viral, “Don’t do it, it’s not worth it … I’m not gonna do it,” audio, which of course, transitioned into her freshly buzzed head. As she debuted her new ‘do, she proudly stuck her head out of a black SUV. She had a giant smile on her face, showing that the cut was indeed worth it.
The comment section of Lupita’s most recent video was immediately flooded with compliments, including from actress Towanda Braxton. “#beautiful @lupitanyongo Welcome to the ‘Clean’ look!” she wrote. The Academy Award winner seemingly lit up behind the screen and replied, “I am loving it! Especially in the heat.” Ciara and actress Aja Naomi King were among the several other stars to support Lupita’s new look.
This isn’t the first time Lupita has gone completely bald. In 2018, she revealed she shaved off her locks a few months after her 18th birthday after struggling with styling it. “My dad joked, ‘Why don’t you just cut it all off?’ And a few months later, I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I?’ I went into the hair salon, and I said, ‘Let’s cut it off,’” she recalled to Allure. “It was almost a dare to myself: Can I live without hair? He shaved it right off. It was so scary but so liberating because I went completely bald.”