Daniel Kaluuya channels spirit of Black Panthers leader to win Oscar
LONDON, United Kingdom — Daniel Kaluuya drew on his respect for Black Panthers leader Fred Hampton's principles to produce an Oscar-winning portrayal of the slain 1960s civil rights leader in "Judas and the Black Messiah".
"What a man. What a man. How blessed we are that we live in a lifetime where he existed," Kaluuya said as he accepted his golden statuette for best supporting actor on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Briton said he aimed to become a "vessel" for Hampton's spirit as the United States and other countries still confront the same racial issues the Panthers battled.
"Chairman Fred Hampton was a light, a beacon of a being who would illuminate all he touched with his incredible message," Kaluuya said last month after his Academy Award nomination, the second in his career.
"I am humbled to be nominated for portraying a man whose principles I deeply respect and for guiding me to walk in his footsteps," he added.
"I became a vessel for Chairman Fred's spirit at a time when we need his rally cry for equality and justice more than ever."
Kaluuya — who also won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award and a Bafta for the role — bested stiff competition, including from co-star Lakeith Stanfield, who plays the "Judas" of the movie — FBI informant William O'Neal.
Kaluuya, seen as a rising star in Hollywood, was last in contention for an Academy Award in 2018 for his gripping lead performance in Jordan Peele's race-based horror film "Get Out".
Youth drama beginnings
Kaluuya was born in London and brought up by his mother, a Ugandan immigrant, in a public housing estate in the British capital. His father stayed in Uganda.
A live wire, he wrote his first play aged nine and his mother registered him for sessions at a local community drama school to keep him out of trouble.
After five years on the waiting list, the teenager got in.
Kaluuya acted in the edgy youth television drama "Skins" and was part of the writing team.
Finally landing theatre work, he won rave reviews in 2010 for his lead role in "Sucker Punch", slimming down to play a boxer.
But in the same year, he was wrongly arrested on suspicion of being a drug dealer.
Officers dragged him off a London bus and pinned him to the ground. He walked free from court after prosecutors offered no evidence, and sued the police.
"Sucker Punch" led to parts in more British television programmes as well as films including "Johnny English Reborn" (2011), "Kick-Ass 2" (2013), "Sicario" (2015) and "Widows" (2018).
His profile rose significantly after appearing in "Get Out" and then 2018 big-budget Marvel superhero film "Black Panther", the franchise's first with a predominantly Black cast, which was nominated for a best picture Oscar.
'Presence'
Kaluuya has earned critical acclaim for his magnetic portrayal of Hampton in "Judas", which was made with the blessing and input of the late civil rights activist's family.
His win is further vindication for Shaka King, the film's writer and director, who defended casting a black Briton in the role of the African-American icon, famed for his inspiring oratory and intense charisma.
King said he wrote the script for his first studio feature, which secured six Oscar nominations, with Kaluuya in mind and never considered anyone else for the part.
Industry legends who have also directed Kaluuya have paid their own tributes to his innate skills in front of the camera.
"You feel what he is feeling, you see what he is seeing," Oscar-winner Steve McQueen told The New York Times after working with him on "Widows".
"He has that gift you don't see often, a presence even in his stillness."
A unique pandemic-era Oscars kicked off in Los Angeles on Sunday with a movie-style opening credits sequence as actor-director Regina King walked into the ceremony's train station venue clutching a gold statuette.
The Academy Awards are being held in-person — shifted to a glammed-up Union Station to enable strict Covid-19 protocols — at a ceremony that reunites Hollywood A-listers for the first time in over a year.
"Live TV, here we go. Welcome to the 93rd Oscars!" said King. — AFP
This year's Oscars audience plummeted by more than half to a record low 9.85 million viewers, broadcaster ABC says Monday — a staggering if widely expected drop for a ceremony that many viewers found short on humor and star power.
The whopping 58% tumble from last year's previous 23.6 million nadir had been anticipated for Hollywood's biggest night, after other award shows held during the pandemic also suffered precipitous declines.
With movie theaters shut for most of the year, many viewers had not seen or even heard of nominees such as Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland," which was the night's big winner with three prizes but which has taken just over $2 million at the domestic box office. — AFP
Anthony Hopkins wins the Oscar for best actor for his acclaimed role as a dementia patient in the film "The Father."
Hopkins, who at 83 is the oldest actor to win a competitive Oscar, bested the late Chadwick Boseman, whose poignant role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" had won him praise and a Golden Globe just months after he died of cancer at age 43.
Other nominees included Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Gary Oldman ("Mank") and Steven Yeun ("Minari"). — AFP
Frances McDormand joins an elite Hollywood club with her third acting Oscar, for her wrenching role as Fern in the acclaimed film "Nomadland."
Her best actress win came over fellow nominees Viola Davis ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), Vanessa Kirby ("Pieces of a Woman"), Andra Day ("The United States vs Billie Holiday") and Carey Mulligan ("Promising Young Woman"). — AFP
The critically acclaimed "Nomadland" — about a marginalized, older generation of Americans roaming the West in rundown vans — wins the coveted Oscar for best picture.
The much-celebrated film from Beijing-born director Chloe Zhao bested "The Father," "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Mank," "Minari," "Promising Young Woman," "Sound of Metal" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7." — AFP
Youn Yuh-jung wins the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as feisty grandmother Soonja in the family drama "Minari."
The veteran South Korean actress bested a pack of nominees including Maria Bakalova ("Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"), Glenn Close ("Hillbilly Elegy"), Olivia Colman ("The Father") and Amanda Seyfried ("Mank"). — AFP
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