Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya had nearly given up on acting before scoring the lead role in Jordan Peele’s directorial debut. Kaluuya currently stars in another Peele-directed film, Nope, which releases in theaters on July 22. His other upcoming work includes playing W’Kabi in the upcoming Black Panther sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, acting in a sci-fi-fantasy film called The Upper World, and making his screenwriting debut with the Netflix film The Kitchen.
Kaluuya has now won an Oscar for his performance as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. His win followed his first nomination for Peele’s Get Out. Get Out launched Kaluuya’s career into greater prominence, scoring him his role in Black Panther and acting in smaller crime thriller hits such as Widows and Queen & Slim. Before Get Out, Kaluuya mostly acted in lesser-known TV series or in smaller roles in movies.
As it turns out, Kaluuya had pretty much given up on acting during this time period before Get Out. In a new interview from Essence, Kaluuya sat down with Peele to discuss getting cast in Get Out, among other things. Before Peele cast Kaluuya in the film, the actor had been missing out on a lot of roles. This discouraged Kaluuya, who then became “really disillusioned with acting.” Once Peele reached out, Kaluuya’s doubts were assuaged. Check out the full quote from Kaluuya below:
“I've never told you this, but when you reached out to me and we had that Skype, I was really disillusioned with acting. I had stopped acting for like a year and a half. I checked out, because I was just like, this isn't working. I wasn't getting roles, because racism and all this kind of stuff—so you reaching out was like, Okay, I'm not crazy. It’s proper. It's going to be all right.”
Now, it is hard to imagine a world where Kaluuya isn’t practically a household name. Looking at his career path pre- and post-Get Out, however, shows a remarkable rise in prominence for Kaluuya. Before Get Out, his most notable role was his starring role as Bing in the Black Mirror episode “Fifteen Million Merits.” Other than that, Kaluuya was a relatively unknown actor. In just 5 years, Kaluuya has risen from this obscurity into the Oscar-winning, A-list status that he holds today.
Get Out may have launched not only a great career for Kaluuya, but a stunning collaboration between the director and actor. Peele has called Kaluuya his Robert De Niro, making a comparison between the great De Niro and Scorsese pairing. Not only has that bond been continued with Nope, but Peele has stated that he would love to work more with Kaluuya in the future. Whatever Kaluuya’s future holds beyond Nope and the next Black Panther film, he is sure to get more roles moving forward. Whether in collaboration with Peele or not, Kaluuya’s future shines bright.
Source: Essence
