Daniel Kaluuya Biography

Daniel Kaluuya is the English actor who shot to stardom as the protagonist in Jordan Peele‘s 2017 movie, Get Out. A few years later, he won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing a Black Panther in Judas and the Black Messiah.

Although Kaluuya had no formal training, he began acting when he was young, and was still in school when he landed a role (and a writing job) in 2007 with the British series Skins, where he stayed until 2009. From there he did more television work, including episodes of Dr. Who and Black Mirror, but his big break came as Emily Blunt’s partner in the 2015 drama Sicario.

Daniel Kaluuya then played the lead in Get Out, a surprise box office hit of 2017 billed as a horror movie but widely seen as social commentary on racism, with Kayuula as a black boyfriend surviving his white girlfriend’s world. Kaluuya was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film.

In Judas and the Black Messiah, Kaluuya played Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was killed by police in 1969. His death was thanks in large part to an informant, played in the film by Lakeith Stanfield (who also was Oscar-nominated for the film).

Daniel Kaluuya’s other credits include the Marvel movie Black Panther (2018, starring Chadwick Boseman), the animated TV mini-series Watership Down (2018) and the well-received indie movie Queen & Slim (2019, written and directed by Lena Waithe).