Daniel Kaluuya has admitted to being disillusioned with the film industry before he was given his big break in Jordan Peele's horror-thriller, Get Out.
Peele's debut feature film was an enormous success both commercially and critically, and helped Kaluuya kickstart his career.
Kaluuya would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.
He credits Peele with helping him ignite his love and desire for acting again.
"I've never told you this, but when you reached out to me and we had that Skype, I was really disillusioned with acting," Kaluuya previously told Peele in a duel interview with Essence.
"I had stopped acting for like a year and a half. I checked out, because I was just like, this isn't working. I wasn't getting roles, because racism and all this kind of stuff - so you reaching out was like, Okay, I'm not crazy. It’s proper. It's going to be all right."
Peele to Kaluuya: You're my De Niro!
Peele and Kaluuya worked together again for Nope.
In an interview with Empire, Peele compared his and Kaluuya's relationship to that of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, who have worked together to huge success in their respective careers.
“It’s so funny but by the point I was in the middle of Get Out, that’s what I was telling him. I was like , ‘You’re my De Niro, man. You’re my De Niro'
“We do have a bond. The first big movie he was a lead in, and my directorial debut, was Get Out.
“And we bonded because we went through that together. In the beginning of that, it feels like two people who have faith in each other, then by the end, it all works. So I just couldn’t wait to further that relationship and explore a completely new character with Daniel.”
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