This Oscar-Nominated Actor Says He Wasn't Invited to His Own Premiere
Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya still isn't sure why the snub happened.
Get Out was one of the biggest movies of 2017. Not only was it a box office hit, grossing $255 million on a budget of only $4.5, but it was also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and writer-director Jordan Peele won for Best Original Screenplay. Its star was even nominated for Best Actor. But Daniel Kaluuya just revealed that he wasn't invited to the film's premiere, and that he still isn't sure exactly why.
During a recent interview on The Graham Norton Show, Kaluuya said that he was not invited to the world premiere of Get Out, which took place at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017. Kaluuya, who stars in the recently released biopic Judas and the Black Messiah, doesn't say why he wasn't invited, but it's clear that he was all set to attend. He made sure to have his schedule open even though he was in the middle of filming the Marvel movie Black Panther.
Read on to see what the English actor had to say about missing the premiere and to find out a possible reason he wasn't invited. And to read about some not-so-successful flicks, check out The Worst Movie of 2020, According to Critics.
Kaluuya was waiting on his invite to the Get Out premiere.
As Kaluuya explained on The Graham Norton Show, he was in Atlanta filming 2018's Black Panther when Get Out was set to premiere at the festival.
"They didn't invite me, bro," Kaluuya told host Graham Norton. "On the Sundance world premiere, I was in Atlanta because I was shooting Panther. I was chilling. I cleared my schedule. I was like, 'Yo, I really wanna do it.' And then I just didn't get the invite, man. I wasn't invited."
He did get an update on how the film did from someone who was there. He added, laughing, "So I was just in my bed, someone texted me, 'It's done really well.' I was like, alright, that's cool."
To remember Black Panther's late star, See the Emotional Chadwick Boseman Tribute at the MTV Movie Awards.
The actor had a pointed reason for not chasing after a ticket.
Norton and the rest of the guests on the show were shocked at this news. Kaluuya responded, "That's the industry, Graham. That's the game."
Norton figured that it must have been a mistake and wondered if Kaluuya ever asked what happened. "No, no. I don't ask questions. I get it, man. That's cool," the 32-year-old said. "You don't want to be in a place that you don't feel wanted."
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There may be a simple explanation for the snub.
The Sundance Film Festival isn't the most glamorous one, and it doesn't tend to have huge red carpet premieres. So, as W Magazine suggests, Kaluuya may not have been invited just because there weren't many people representing the film, period. The magazine reports that Bradley Whitford was the only actor on stage with Peele post-premiere, and that while their co-star LaKeith Stanfield was also at Sundance that year, he was mostly promoting other projects. Get Out really was a surprise hit.
Kaluuya's breakout was definitely the top horror movie of 2017, but what about last year? Here's The Best Horror Film of 2020, According to Critics.
There are no hard feelings between Kaluuya and Peele.
Kaluuya went to on actually attend plenty of Get Out events that year and the next. And, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he may be teaming up with Peele again. THR reports that Kaluuya is in negotiations to star with Keke Palmer in Peele's next movie. No other details have been released at this time, but the film would premiere in July 2022.
For now, Kaluuya is making the rounds to promote another movie garnering awards attention. For playing Black Panther leader Fred Hampton—alongside Get Out co-star Stanfield—in Judas and the Black Messiah, he's already been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
For more acclaimed actors, check out 13 Great Oscar-Winning Performances That Still Hold Up.
