Recap: 2014 Oscars Red Carpet

Lupita Nyong'o wins Oscar for supporting actress

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a whirlwind of awards season attention for Lupita Nyong'o ended with a best supporting actress award at Sunday's Oscars, the "12 Years a Slave" star honored the character that put her on stage.

"Thank you to the academy for this incredible recognition. It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else's," she said, referring to Patsey, the tortured slave she played in director Steve McQueen's wrenching 19th-century drama.

She credited McQueen for bringing attention to a dark chapter in American history and the victims of slavery.

"I'm certain the dead are standing about you and watching," she said, a sentiment she expanded on backstage.

"I think he's really honored a people that really have been unsung for a really long time in doing this film," she said.