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Jordan Peele's newest venture Nope features an incredible cast led by Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya, who rose to fame after his performance in Peele's first award-winning film. Kaluuya has put forth many notable performances since his breakout role but nearly departed from the profession altogether because of the lack of available opportunities.
Universal's Nope will be the second time Kaluuya and Peele have teamed up together throughout their notable careers. The duo first collaborated on Peele's breakout horror film Get Out, where Kaluuya starred as Chris Washington. The iconic film earned four Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Original Screenplay. Kaluuya was praised for his incredible role and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actor but lost to Gary Oldman for his role in Darkest Hour.
Before Get Out, however, Kaluuya was relatively unknown to audiences and contemplated leaving the profession before the emblematic director reached out with a life-changing opportunity. During a joint interview with Peele for Essence Magazine, Kaluuya touched on his near departure and the factors behind it. "I've never told you this, but when you reached out to me, and we had that Skype, I was really disillusioned with acting. I had stopped acting for like a year and a half," stated Kaluuya.
"I checked out, because I was just like, this isn't working. I wasn't getting roles, because racism and all this kind of stuff—so you reaching out was like, Okay, I'm not crazy. It's proper. It's going to be all right." Peele noted that he knew he wanted to have Kaluuya a part of the ground-breaking film after seeing him in the Fifteen Million Merits episode of Netflix's Black Mirror. The director was blown away by his performance, which Kaluuya topped during the film's audition to land the Get Out role.
Since Get Out, Kaluuya has appeared in several notable projects, including Marvel Studios' Black Panther. The talented actor's first Academy Award win came in 2021 in the Best Supporting Actor category for his incredible performance in Judas and the Black Messiah. Teaming up with Peele was a decision that ultimately altered the course of a rather stagnant career for Kaluuya, who now sits as a recognizable figure in a profession that he almost gave up on entirely.
Alongside Kaluuya, Universal's Nope will star Keke Palmer and Academy Award-nominated actor Steven Yeun. Peele and Kaluuya's last outing together resulted in several award nominations, a flame the two hope to rekindle in this brand-new adventure. Unfortunately, Kaluuya will be absent from the upcoming sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which he exited due to scheduling conflicts, so it's unclear what's next for Kaluuya after the upcoming horror film releases.
Nope will hit theaters on July 22, 2022.
Source: Essence