Ugandan-British actor Daniel Kaluuya was on Tuesday nominated for an Oscar for his role in the hit horror film Get Out.
The young Londoner faces strong competition in the Actor in a Leading Role category from established Hollywood stars including Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis – as well as Call Me By Your Name’s Timothée Chalamet, 22, who is the youngest actor ever nominated in the category.
Kaluuya, 28, has already received a Bafta nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for his breakthrough role in the horror film, a dark satire on race relations in the United States.
Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Jordan Peele, the film has become an unexpected box office hit, earning $254 million worldwide on a budget of just $4.5 million.
Peele, until now best known as a comedian, has been nominated both for Best Direction and Best Screenplay, while the film is also a contender in the nine-strong Best Picture category.
Writing on Twitter, Peele revealed that his nomination had left him struggling to hold back tears. “I just spoke to Daniel,” he wrote. “You know when you’re on the phone trying to disguise the sound of an ugly cry? I failed at that.”
Kaluuya has previously appeared in the sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror and Channel 4’s Skins, but Get Out is his first leading role in a major feature film.
Daniel grew up in London after his parents – Stephen and mum Damalie Namusoke – moved to England from Uganda.
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