Daniel Kaluuya respects Samuel L. Jackson, but he doesnāt agree with the veteran actorās assessment that heās any less qualified to play the African-American lead character in Jordan Peeleās racial horror-comedy Get Out because heās British. After Jackson wondered āwhat Get Out would have been with an American brother who really feels that,ā he clarified that he was really referring to a structural bias in Hollywood that seems to prefer black British actors over their African-American counterparts. Speaking to GQ, Kaluuya said that thereās no universal black experience, but Jordan Peeleās social horror-thriller about liberal white racism and microaggressions still felt relevant and true to his own life as someone who grew up abroad:
Big up Samuel L. Jackson, because hereās a guy who has broken down doors. He has done a lot so that we can do what we can do.
Hereās the thing about that critique, though. Iām dark-skinned, bro. When Iām around black people Iām made to feel āotherā because Iām dark-skinned. Iāve had to wrestle with that, with people going āYouāre too black.ā Then I come to America and they say, āYouāre not black enough.ā I go to Uganda, I canāt speak the language. In India, Iām black. In the black community, Iām dark-skinned. In America, Iām British. Bro!
Kaluuya recounted examples of racism faced by black people in the U.K., and insisted that he wasnāt comparing racism experienced by two separate cultures, just that heās devoted to telling black stories:
Let me say, Iām not trying to culture-vulture the thing. I empathize. That script spoke to me. Iāve been to Ugandan weddings, and funerals, and seen that cousin bring a white girl. Thatās a thing in all communities. I really respect African American people. I just want to tell black stories.
This is the frustrating thing, broāin order to prove that I can play this role, I have to open up about the trauma that Iāve experienced as a black person. I have to show off my struggle so that people accept that Iām black. No matter that every single room I go to Iām usually the darkest person there. You know what Iām saying? I kind of resent that mentality. Iām just an individual. You probably feel that as a writer, too. Just because youāre black, youāre taken and used to represent something. It mirrors what happens in the film.