The star of the movie “Away” Daniel Kaluuya almost gave up acting before he got the lead role in Jordan Peele’s directorial debut. Kaluuya is currently starring in another film directed by Peel, “No”, which is released in theaters on July 22. His other upcoming works include the role of V’Kabi in the upcoming sequel to Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and a role in a sci-fi film. under the name “Upper World” and made his debut as a screenwriter in the Netflix film “Kitchen”.
Kaluuya won an Oscar for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. His win followed his first nomination for the film “Off the Saw”. “Away” made Kaluuya’s career even more famous, earning him a role in “Black Panther” and playing in small crime thrillers such as “Widows” and “The Queen and Slim.” Before “Away”, Kaluuya mostly starred in little-known TV series or in small film roles.
As it turned out, Kaluuya had largely given up acting during this time period before “Off.” In a new interview for Essence, Kaluuya met with Peel to discuss, among other things, participation in the film “Away”. Before Peel cast Kaluuya in the film, the actor missed out on many roles. This discouraged Kaluuya, who then “really became disillusioned with acting.” As soon as Peel held out his hand, Kaluuya’s doubts were dispelled. Check out Kaluuya’s full quote below:
“I never told you this, but when you contacted me and we got Skype, I was really disappointed in acting. I stopped acting for about a year and a half. I checked because I just thought it wasn’t working. I didn’t get roles because of racism and all that – so you were like, “Okay, I’m not crazy.” That’s right. Everything will be fine.”
Now it is difficult to imagine a world in which the name Kaluuya is practically not a household name. However, a look at his career before and after “Away” shows a significant increase in Kaluuya’s fame. Before “Away”, his most notable role was the lead role of Bing in the Black Mirror episode “Fifteen Million Merits”. Otherwise, Kaluuya was a relatively unknown actor. In just 5 years, Kaluuya has risen from obscurity to an Oscar winner and the A-list status he has today.
“Away” may have marked the beginning of not only Kaluuya’s excellent career, but also an amazing collaboration between the director and the actor. Peel called Kaluuya his Robert De Niro, comparing the great couple of De Niro and Scorsese. Not only was this connection with Knope continued, Peel stated that he would like to work more with Kaluuya in the future. Whatever Kaluuya’s future, apart from “No” and the next Black Panther movie, he will definitely get more roles in the future. Whether it’s a collaboration with Peel or not, Kaluuya’s future is shining brightly.
