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Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received
numerous accolades, including an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, two
BAFTA Awards, two
Screen Actors Guild Awards, a
Golden Globe Award, and nominations for a
Primetime Emmy Award and a
Laurence Olivier Award. In 2021, he was named among the
100 most influential people in the world
''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine '' Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, ...
by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine.
Kaluuya began his acting career as a teenager in
improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...
.
He subsequently portrayed
Posh Kenneth
''Skins'' is a British teen comedy drama television series that follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial story-lines have explored issues like dysfunctional ...
in the first two seasons of the television series ''
Skins''; he also co-wrote some of the episodes. Kaluuya drew critical acclaim for his leading performance in ''
Sucker Punch
A sucker punch (American English), also known as a dog shot, coward punch, king hit or one-punch attack
( Australian and New Zealand English) or cold-cock (American English), is a punch made without warning or while the recipient is distracted ...
'' at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...
in London and he won both the
Evening Standard Award
The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...
and
Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer. In 2018, he received the
BAFTA Rising Star Award.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Kaluuya gained further notice for his performances as Michael "Tealeaf" Fry in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
dark comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
series ''
Psychoville
''Psychoville'' is a British psychological horror-thriller black comedy mystery television series created and written by and starring '' The League of Gentlemen'' members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the BBC. It debuted on BBC T ...
'', Michael "Mac" Armstrong in the
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...
horror drama series ''
The Fades'', Barclay in the ''
Doctor Who'' Easter special "
Planet of the Dead
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...
", and Bingham "Bing" Madsen in the ''
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...
'' episode "
Fifteen Million Merits". He appeared as Agent Colin Tucker in the 2011 spy action comedy film ''
Johnny English Reborn
''Johnny English Reborn'' is a 2011 spy action comedy film directed by Oliver Parker and written by Hamish McColl from a story by William Davies. A sequel to '' Johnny English'' (2003) and the second instalment in the ''Johnny English'' seri ...
'' and as Black Death in the 2013 superhero film ''
Kick-Ass 2''. In 2015, he had a supporting role in
Denis Villeneuve's thriller film ''
Sicario''.
In 2017, Kaluuya achieved a
career breakthrough after starring in
Jordan Peele's horror film ''
Get Out'', which garnered him a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actor. This was followed by roles in
Ryan Coogler
Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, a Golden Globe Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Best Pictu ...
's ''
Black Panther'' (2018),
Steve McQueen's ''
Widows'' (2018),
Melina Matsoukas's ''
Queen & Slim'' (2019) and Peele's ''
Nope'' (2022). For his portrayal of
Black Panther Party leader
Fred Hampton
Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist. He came to prominence in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and chair of the Illinois chapter. As a progressive African Ame ...
in ''
Judas and the Black Messiah
''Judas and the Black Messiah'' is a 2021 biographical film, biographical crime film, crime drama (film and television), drama film about the betrayal of Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Pan ...
'' (2021), he won the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
,
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
,
Critics' Choice Award,
Golden Globe Award, and
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. At age 32, Kaluuya became the
seventh-youngest winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is also the first British actor of African heritage to win an Academy Award.
Early life and education
Kaluuya was born on 24 February 1989 in London to Ugandan parents. His mother
raised him on a
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
in
Camden Town, along with an older sister. His father lived in
Balaka,
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
and they had no contact until he was 15. Kaluuya attended
Torriano Primary School, and
St Aloysius' College, Highgate.
He subsequently took
A-level History, Drama and Biology at
Camden School for Girls
The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist- ...
mixed semi-comprehensive sixth-form college.
Kaluuya wrote his first play at the age of nine, after which he began performing
improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...
.
He began acting as a child at his local
Anna Scher Theatre
The Anna Scher Theatre is an independent and co-educational performing arts school based in Islington, Greater London. It was founded in 1968 by Anna Scher. It is considered among the first schools of its kind geared towards working class studen ...
School and WAC Arts.
Career
2006-2009: Career beginnings and ''Skins''
Kaluuya appeared in his first credited acting role in 2006 as Reece in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's controversial drama ''