Actor Daniel Kaluuya recently responded to Samuel L. Jackson's comment that "The Avengers" actor preferred to watch a black American actor playing a leading role in a movie. Jackson also stated that Jordan Peele's social horror "Get Out" might have been different if it had a lead black American actor instead of Brit Kaluuya.
The comment from the senior actor reflected the 29-year-old actor's personal experience of being ostracized in different settings for being black. In an exclusive interview with GQ Magazine, Kaluuya told that whenever he is around black people, he is made to feel other because he's dark-skinned.
"I've had to wrestle with that; with people going 'You are too black'. Then I come to America and they say, 'You are not black enough. I go to Uganda and I can't speak their language. In India, I'm black. In the black community, I'm dark skinned. In America, I am British. According to Huffington Post, the actor also added that as black Americans have their broad range of social issues, black community in London also confronts prejudice, oppression and police brutality in daily life.
"This is the frustrating thing bro that in order to prove that I can play the role, I have to open about the trauma I experienced as a black person. I have to show up my struggles as a dark skinned so people can accept me as a black. Whenever I go into a single room, I am always the darkest person there, and I resent that mentality. I am just an individual," said Daniel.
As reported by New York Times, it all started when Jackson, 68, made headlines last week over his statement for stating that an American brother would have added more perspective to the role in "Get Out" and said the US has a more difficult relationship with race than the UK. He later corrected his statement after receiving much criticism, saying it was aimed at the entire Hollywood, instead of the movie.