DANIEL KALUUYA INSPIRES
From Get Out to Fred Hampton
From humble beginnings to the big screen, Daniel Kaluuya has seen quite the rise over the past decade. Appearing in BBC hits, Psychoville and The Fades, it took time for Kaluuya to gain mainstream attention. The actor started his acting career in 2006, spurring from his days of improv theatre in the UK. He would ultimately wait until 2011 until his face would land on North America’s movie screens. It began with a prominent role in the James Bond parody film, Johnny English Reborn. Soon enough, Kaluuya would have supporting roles in the superhero comedy film Kick-Ass 2 and hit-show Black Mirror.
But it was his starring role in Jordan Peele’s 2017 directorial debut, Get Out, that established Kaluuya as a movie star to watch. In the satirical horror, he played Chris Washington, an African-American man who goes with his white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), to visit her seemingly progressive parents (Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford) for the weekend. Get Out became one of the few horror movies to make its way to the Academy Awards, getting nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and winning for Best Original Screenplay. His star power was only further solidified when he was cast in a major supporting role in Marvel’s Black Panther.
Now a prominent figure in all of pop culture, the actor joined a new generation of black actors, spearheaded by Friday Night Lights star, Michael B. Jordan and LaKeith Stanfield. Kaluuya was castmates with the former in Black Panther; starring the late-great Chadwick Boseman. The latter was a castmate in Peele’s Get Out film.
With the upcoming release of the dramatic biopic Judas and the Black Messiah, Kaluuya is sure to see some more Oscar buzz. This time, it would be for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Chicago Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton. The movie, written by Shaka King and Will Berson, and directed by King, depicts the story of petty criminal William O’Neal’s (Lakeith Stanfield) infiltration of the Black Panthers on behalf of the FBI. The intelligence O’Neal provided the FBI with led to the murder of a 21-year-old Hampton by federal law enforcement. While Judas and the Black Messiah is not scheduled to come out until February 12, 2021 (in theaters and on HBOMax), advance screeners have been made available to select members of the press and awards committee members.
In a time where crisis and racial tension are still prominent in the public eye, stories of all kinds are being recounted, told from the perspective of black people in ways never told. Movie watchers will now see these stories told by this generation of black actors, and with Kaluuya’s imprint already in the undertone of black culture in film, he might have the biggest impact out of the bunch.
Now, it appears that Kaluuya will be teaming up with Peele again for Peele’s top-secret new film. Very few details are available about this project, save for a couple basic character descriptions. What is known, is that Peele is not only courting Kaluuya for one of the leads, but he is also interested in signing Jesse Plemons to the project as well. If both actors sign on, this would mark a reunion for them as well, Plemons stars as FBI agent Roy Mitchell, the agent who handles William O’Neal, in Judas and the Black Messiah. Who knows, maybe Peele will also add Lakeith Stanfield to the cast of his upcoming project and then it can be a reunion for all the leads from Judas and the Black Messiah.
