Daniel Kaluuya Reveals Racism Prevented Him From Landing Roles in England

Source: Vincent Sandoval / Getty

Daniel Kaluuya Reveals Racism Prevented Him From Landing Roles in England

Daniel Kaluuya has been scoring amazing roles over the past few years leading to him to become one of the biggest breakout stars in Hollywood. He became a household name after his amazing performance in Get Out and soon after, he starred in one of the biggest films of 2018, Black Panther.

As he continued his run into 2019 with a role in Queen & Slim, it’s safe to say that each and every year, we can expect an amazing performance from Daniel to hit U.S. theaters. But over in England, it seems like Kaluuya couldn’t land the amazing roles he auditioned for, which is what brought him stateside. Recently, Daniel sat down with The Times to discuss the struggles he faced while trying to get his career off the ground in London.

“I was going for a lot of stuff [in England], But I wasn’t getting roles because of the color of my skin. It wasn’t fair. It was a trap.”

Daniel goes on to explain more specific details, remembering a time he was auditioning for a role against a white actor who was given an unfair advantage.

“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,” he added. “It happened a few times, and I went, ‘Nah. I’m not an idiot.'”

If you’re wondering why Daniel felt the need to speak on this matter publicly, the British Academy Film Awards were called out for their lack of diversity less than a week ago. This serves as an even more serious slap in the face considering the fact that the Academy issued a press release in 2018 with requirements to help fix the lack of diversity.

Many have used Denzel Washington never having received a nomination while winning almost 10 Oscars as a prime example of racism in London’s film industry. With a native like Daniel slipping through their grasp and having a breakout in the states, you’d think they would throw at least one nomination his way–But still, they refuse to acknowledge him and many others.

So much for “racism doesn’t exist outside the United States,” huh?