{"id":95660,"date":"2017-03-17T14:48:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T14:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=95660"},"modified":"2017-03-17T14:53:16","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T14:53:16","slug":"get-outs-daniel-kaluuya-a-lot-of-people-cant-take-honesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/interviews\/get-outs-daniel-kaluuya-a-lot-of-people-cant-take-honesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Out&#8217;s Daniel Kaluuya: &#8220;A lot of people can&#8217;t take honesty&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Kaluuya is a very familiar face to British genre fans. He&#8217;s starred in cult favourites like <strong><em>Black Mirror<\/em><\/strong>, <strong><em>Psychoville<\/em><\/strong> and <strong><em>The Fades<\/em><\/strong>, as well as appearing in 2015&#8217;s\u00a0excellent (non-genre) thriller <strong><em>Sicario<\/em><\/strong>. Now, he&#8217;s breaking out with his superb performance as the hero of Jordan Peele&#8217;s brilliant smash-hit horror<strong><em> Get Out<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Kaluuya plays Chris, who travels with his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to her parents&#8217; country estate. She assures him that they aren&#8217;t racist, but every conversation seems loaded with hints that they&#8217;re trying too hard, or that there&#8217;s something lurking under the smiles and Jesse Owens photos. Should Chris stay, or should he listen to his instinct to get the hell out?<\/p>\n<p>We talked to Kaluuya about what drew him to the film, working with Peele and how genre films can send a powerful message.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Were you familiar with Jordan Peele&#8217;s work beforehand?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I watched loads of <strong><em>Key And Peele<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0on YouTube. It\u2019s great. It\u2019s like it&#8217;s filling the hole that Chappelle left and I love that social commentary humour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A lot of those sketches are pretty terrifying, you can tell he loves horror!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you seen Baby Forest Whitaker? [laughs]<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SxwMTAy1gP0\" width=\"616\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He showed us that and I was like &#8220;Aah, that\u2019s a horror tone!&#8221; The thing is, what really resonated with me with <strong><em>Get Out<\/em><\/strong>, it\u00a0tonally reminded me of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the <strong><em>League Of Gentlemen<\/em><\/strong> guys. I did <strong><em>Psychoville<\/em><\/strong> and it\u2019s that horror and odd humour, I really like that, I think it\u2019s really cool. I think Jordan shares that kindred spirit in a way.<\/p>\n<p>It reminded me of how I felt when I read <strong><em>Psychoville<\/em><\/strong>, like,\u00a0\u201cOoh, can you say this? Can you do this?\u201d And it was about a subject that I\u2019ve lived and it felt important to me, that all my friends will feel like they belong if they watch a film like this. And so I found that really rewarding, to have a chance to be a part of it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-95678\" src=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya-616x411.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"616\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya-616x411.jpg 616w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get_Out-001-Daniel_Kaluuya-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 616px) 100vw, 616px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>He definitely knows what he&#8217;s doing when it comes to the horror.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I think Jordan\u2019s in a great genre sweet spot. You can see it in his sketch comedy and in <strong><em>Keanu<\/em><\/strong>, he understands the public and what people want. And he\u2019s a horror fan, he\u2019s a film nerd, and he\u2019s dedicated enough to put the work in. He was\u00a0working on this script for five years to get it\u00a0to the standard where it\u2019s going to resonate, and audiences are having a visceral reaction when they watch\u00a0it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The conversations in the film are so loaded and they&#8217;re incredibly tense to watch. Everything seems to carry meaning&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes you just have to be on your best behaviour, you want to say something but you know you can\u2019t say something. You just go, &#8220;Listen, guys, I\u2019m black and it\u2019s just different.&#8221; And sometimes people go \u201cOh, I don\u2019t see colour.\u201d And I think that\u2019s a bullshit thing. What do you mean you can\u2019t see colour?\u00a0There\u2019s nuances in every single culture and people aren\u2019t understanding that. But sometimes you go &#8220;Oh cool, there\u2019s a time and place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And you know that, if you address it, you don\u2019t know how that other person will react. You don\u2019t know how that other person will handle that. They\u2019ll maybe get their back up or they will attack or accuse you of being a racist or XYZ, so you just have to tread that line. I always say, if someone says the word &#8220;nigger,&#8221; it just fucks you.<\/p>\n<p>It fucks you because every way you react is the wrong way. They put that onto you. If you go crazy, you\u2019re the angry guy. If you fucking stay silent, you\u2019re passive and you\u2019re a coward. If you fucking challenge them\u00a0then you\u2019re a complication or you\u2019re aggressive, it\u2019s like everything you do is just the wrong thing in their eyes. So it\u2019s really tough navigating that as a black person in western society where people are pretending to be post-racial. People were claiming to be post-racial because of Obama and it\u2019s clearly not what\u2019s happened.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was that fun as an actor to get in there and play those situations?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s just bringing it to life. I\u2019ve been to that party and had those conversations, about people pretending to be OK with this. And they\u2019re nice people, but they\u2019re going out of their way to go \u201cI\u2019m not\u2026I\u2019m cool.\u201d And it\u2019s just \u201cBe cool!\u201d But they\u2019re not cool, because a lot of the time what you say you are is what you aren\u2019t, and that was refreshing because that brings my experience to life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I loved that recurring bit about Bradley Whitford&#8217;s character voting for Obama, does that feel like it plays differently than when you shot the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We shot it\u00a0this time last year, so it was a completely different meaning. That\u2019s what\u2019s great about the film, that\u2019s why Jordan does such great work, because the joke then was just basically, &#8220;Oh, I love black people because of Obama.&#8221; Now in the current context it\u2019s like, &#8220;Yo, I\u2019m not one of those guys.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s so interesting, when you say something, as time changes the meaning of it changes. And this film is one of those ones, it\u2019s a different film now because Trump\u2019s President.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-95679\" src=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out-616x462.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"616\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out-616x462.jpg 616w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 616px) 100vw, 616px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The whole cast is amazing. What was it like with working with people like Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an incredible experience because I\u2019ve grown up watching them; it\u2019s quite a surreal experience. And being English and I\u2019m in this film and I\u2019ve watched everyone\u2019s work and I\u2019ve really respected them. And they were so on board with it and had such great ideas. But everyone was really giving, so it was just really cool to be a part of it, in that environment where everyone wants to portray the characters in the best way possible. So it was really rewarding and a rich environment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s Peele&#8217;s first time directing a feature and it&#8217;s so confident. What was he like to work with?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s so open. He\u2019s just so open to your ideas and your outlook and how that\u2019s all going to be. Because there was stuff that I wasn\u2019t comfortable with and he\u2019d be like &#8220;Yeah, I get it.&#8221; I wanted Chris\u00a0to be a character that black people would root for, to be frank, and if it wasn\u2019t that, I think the film would fail.<\/p>\n<p>So in a lot of those situations I think Chris had to react in a certain way in order for black people to think, \u201cI\u2019d do the same thing.\u201d He\u2019s doing the best that he can do in that situation. And I think that\u2019s what he really helped me on and was open to listening to me. We improvised a lot because me, Allison and Jordan have improv backgrounds, so if something didn\u2019t feel right, he was willing to chuck things away and start again. He was just really open and really cool.<\/p>\n<p>And I trusted him, that\u2019s the most important thing, I trusted him, so when there were moments when he had to go \u201cYou have to trust me,\u201d I said, \u201cOK cool, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-95680\" src=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2-616x347.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"616\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2-616x347.jpg 616w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2-510x286.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Get-Out2.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 616px) 100vw, 616px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You&#8217;ve worked on some of the best British genre shows in recent years, do you find that you&#8217;re drawn to this area?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think the thing with genre is that a lot of times there\u2019s stuff you want to say, and bad storytelling is like \u201cHere\u2019s 4\u201d and good storytelling is \u201cHere\u2019s 2+2.\u201d And I think that\u2019s what genre does, like <strong><em>Black Mirror<\/em><\/strong> or <strong><em>The Fades<\/em><\/strong> or <strong><em>Psychoville<\/em><\/strong> or <strong><em>Get Out<\/em><\/strong>, it\u2019s using the genre to say something that\u2019s relevant in this world and then the audience pieces it together.<\/p>\n<p>Because when you come to it, it\u2019s more rewarding, you own that information. And that\u2019s what\u2019s great about <strong><em>Get Out<\/em> <\/strong>is people are watching it and owning it. I think that\u2019s like the Obama thing. It was just a comment, and now because of what\u2019s happening this year it\u2019s taken this different meaning and people have owned it differently.<\/p>\n<p>I think that\u2019s what sci-fi and horror and comedy allow people to do, is give them space for an issue. Because a lot of people can\u2019t take directness and honesty. It\u2019s a rewarding way of saying something and I think that\u2019s what Jordan does.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Get Out is in UK cinemas now. Read our review <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/reviews\/get-out-film-review-21st-century-nightmare\/\">here<\/a>\u00a0and our interview with Jordan Peele <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/interviews\/jordan-peele-on-get-out-horror-and-the-post-racial-lie-in-america\/\">here<\/a>, and keep up with the latest news with the new issue of SciFiNow.<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K9su2d0WM2I\" width=\"616\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Kaluuya talks Get Out and using horror to discuss real issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":95650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[2615,1718,7],"tags":[4755,797],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/get-out-jordan-peele.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}