Lupita Nyong'o: '12 Years a Slave' (2013)
What's really shocking about Lupita Nyong'o's first film is that there wasn't one before it. She's easily recognized because it's the film that instantly planted her on Hollywood's A-list and earned her an Oscar.
Nyong'o plays Patsey, a young, tortured slave. For a first gig after graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she could've done worse.