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'Get Out' star Daniel Kaluuya: "I resent that I have to prove that I’m black"
Jordan Peele’s Get Out has had ground breaking success, but the movie has not been without certain controversial comments.
With the movie tackling race, it was quite clear that would be the topic of conversation. It was however surprising that the controversial comments were from Samuel L Jackson.
Jackson mentioned that he wondered “what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that.”
He is of course referring to Daniel Kaluuya, who plays the lead role in Get Out and is also British.
Jackson did defend his remarks mentioning it was not a criticism of black British actors but more of an observation of Hollywood.
Kaluuya has since recently voiced his thoughts on these comments to GQ.
"Big up Samuel L. Jackson, because here's a guy who has broken down doors. He has done a lot so that we can do what we can do," he mentioned.
“Here’s the thing about that critique, though. I’m dark-skinned. When I’m around black people I’m made to feel ‘other’ because I’m dark-skinned," Kaluuya continued. "I’ve had to wrestle with that, with people going, ‘You’re too black.’ Then I come to America and they say, ‘You’re not black enough.’ "
Kaluuya touched on the problems of racism in the UK, such as riots in London which saw black people killed by the police. He claims that people may have the wrong perception of what the experience is really like, with such issues not being covered in the mainstream media.
"This is the frustrating thing...in order to prove that I can play this role, I have to open up about the trauma that I've experienced as a black person," he said. "I have to show off my struggle so that people accept that I'm black. No matter that every single room I go to I'm usually the darkest person there. I kind of resent that mentality."
Kaluuya added: "I resent that I have to prove that I’m black. I don’t know what that is. I’m still processing it."
Kaluuya rose to fame here in the UK with roles on popular shows such as Skins and Babylon and will also appear in the upcoming Black Panther movie, directed by Ryan Coogler, and was also recently cast as the lead in Steve McQueen’s Widows.
