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Daniel Kaluuya on His Get Out Oscar Nomination: ''It's the Dream''

British actor dishes on the critical and commercial success of his sleeper hit

By Meg Swertlow Jan 31, 2018 1:27 AMTags
Watch: Daniel Kaluuya Dishes on "Get Out" Oscar Nomination

He's the star of the little movie (with the creepy ending) that could!

At the red carpet premiere of his new film, Black Panther, on Monday night, Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya talked to E!'s Zuri Hall about what it was like to receive a Best Actor Oscar nomination earlier in the month for his career-making role as Chris Washington in the Jordan Peele-directed horror film.

The British actor, who has had a lot of buzz about him during the 2018 award season, admitted, "It's crazy. It's a relief...Especially for a film I believe in."

Kaluuya added that the film's success feels unreal and he couldn't be more thrilled. "It's like the dream. I am just so happy. I am so happy for everyone. I am happy that Get Out got nominated for [Best] Film. I am happy that Jordan got nominated—Jordan got nominated three times!"

The Sicario actor then admitted that after both he and Peele found out that they were nominated for Oscars, the Key and Peele funnyman called him on the phone and cried tears of joy.

Kaluuya added that he believed screen scribe deserved all the praise and admiration he was receiving for his hard work.

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Oscars 2018: Stars React to Their Nominations
Chelsea Lauren/REX/Shutterstock

As for his latest endeavor, which had a far bigger budget than Get Out's $4 million, the new Marvel star said spoke to Hall about what it meant to him to star in Black Panther, a predominately black film that defied stereotypes for the superhero genre, which has mostly consisted of telling the tales of white males.

"I think the traditional stereotypes are loaded in institutional racism," said Kaluuya. "So I don't worry about that. I go, 'What do we do? And how we doing it? What stories do we want to tell and what we going to do?' I don't care what those people think—we're doing it."

As for what it was like doing promo for Get Out at the same time he was filming the superhero movie, he explained that it was exhausting, but well worth it.

"It was tough. It was grueling. The Hours were grueling. The fight scenes were grueling, but we all knew that it was bigger than us. We all knew that it was hard work."

The candid actor added, "This is a moment for the kids, for the younger generation to think that not this is special—that this is normal."

The former Skins star said he hoped that the film would give young black kids, who watch it, the believe that they can, "dream however you want to dream." 

Black Panther stars Chadwick BosemanMichael B. JordanLupita Nyong'oDanai GuriaAngela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Letitia WrightMartin FreemanDaniel Kaluuya, Sterling K. Brown and Andy Serkis. The film claws into theaters on Feb. 16.