Daniel Kaluuya Explains Why He Refuses To Work With Less Successful White Actors

Daniel Kaluuya is a quality actor who was great in Get Out, Black Mirror, Nope, and everything else he’s been in, but he’s now facing some backlash after stating that he refuses to work with white actors who are less successful than him.

Asked about it in a new interview with British GQ, Kaluuya explained why he turned down a fashion campaign with a brand that wanted to team him with white actors.

Kaluuya said: ‘They wanted to put me against two white actors that hadn’t achieved as much as me. And I was all, I wanna be on my own. Because that’s not gonna look good. I’ve done things. I just feel like I have a certain position. It’s not like, “Oh, I’m so cool.” I’m just like, “I don’t like that.” It’s got to be because of what it means, because I want to be out there and make sure I’m representing right.

‘Why would I shrink myself? My mum didn’t raise me like that. Why do I shrink myself to make people feel comfortable? I want to do some good, cool shit. I want to help people, and I want to bring jobs. I want everyone to grow artistically. I want to do amazing things. Why would I shrink? Why would I dim?’

So I think what he’s saying is that as a high-level actor, he wants to hold out for specific high-level partnerships, and won’t give a leg up to a lesser colleague unless they’re black? I guess that’s his prerogative, but he didn’t really do a great job at explaining it. Even without the racial connotation, it sounds extremely arrogant and snobbish.

I mean, imagine if every actor, or anyone in the entertainment industry more successful than him had the same attitude towards him when he was coming up? He wouldn’t have been able to work with anyone, let alone attain the success he has today. Maybe he just explained himself really badly but he really does sound like a pompous pr1ck saying something like that in British GQ of all magazines.