Daniel Kaluuya has an impressive track record here in America. He starred in Black Panther, Get Out, Widows, and had roles in Kick-Ass 2 and Sicario. Apparently though, Kaluuya didn’t have such great luck acorss the pond, where he is from. Speaking with The Sunday Times, Kaluuya commented on how he felt that his dark skin played a role in stopping studios from hiring him.
“I was going for a lot of stuff [in England],” he admitted in the interview. “But I wasn’t getting roles because of the color of my skin. It wasn’t fair. It was a trap.” He continued on to name a specific scenario. “For example, I went up for this show. It was 10 rounds of auditions. There was me and a white guy for the lead. It was about aliens. And I realized as I was going to one audition that the other guy had been given an acting coach. They didn’t love me like they loved him.”
“In any other profession, that would be weird, but it was accepted in mine,” continued Kaluuya. “It happened a few times, and I went, ‘Nah. I’m not an idiot.’” Speaking with Entertainment Weekly two years ago, Kaluuya got candid about racism while discussing Get Out‘s big party scene. “That party scene was just like, ‘Oh, I’ve been in that party. I’m going to that party,’” Kaluuya said. “Like, that kind of racism that isn’t seen as racism, that isn’t seen as, kind of like, mainstream racism. It’s just life. And to explore that is quite an uncomfortable conversation. And [director] Jordan [Peele] just spoke his truth. He cinematically articulated an experience that millions of people go through and they are made to feel crazy for going through that. But he just said, ‘No, actually, you’re not crazy.’”