British actor, Daniel Kaluyaa has become the first black Briton to win an award at the just-ended 93rd Oscars.
This follows Daniel emerging as the winner of the coveted category of ‘Best supporting Actor’, for his portrayal of Fred Hampton in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’.
The actor who is born to Ugandan parents in his acceptance speech addressed the issue of racism as well as injustice and mentioned that “there was work to do”.
Speaking about his role in the movie, Daniel Kulayaa mentioned that he is very humbled to have been chosen to play such a great role since Chairman Fred is someone who he admires and “deeply respects”.
“What a man. How blessed we are that we live in a lifetime where he existed. I am humbled to be nominated for portraying a man whose principles I deeply respect and for guiding me to walk in his footsteps”.
Touching on the importance of him winning he said: “I think more people are going to know Chairman Fred’s story. That’s what it’s about, that’s what this is about. It’s about telling the truth and getting it out there. And making sure people see who this man was, and what this man did. …The fact that I can even stand on this stage with this statue is because of what he did.”
Kaluuya also paid tribute to his mother who was present at the event. He thanked her as well as his father for giving him his “factory settings” so, he can stand his “fullest height”.
Daniel Kaluyaa’s off-the-cuff crack
However, in a fast-trending video, Daniel Kulayaa’s mother could be seen asking “What is he talking about?” when her excited son told the global audience of millions: “My mum met my dad, they had sex, it’s amazing. I’m here. I’m so happy to be alive so I’m going to celebrate that tonight.”
Daniel in a backstage interview disclosed that he regrets making the off-the-cuff crack. While laughing, the actor said: “I’m going to avoid my phone for a bit; I think my mom’s not going to be very happy. But she’s going to be cool. She’s got a sense of humor. We give it to each other. So, it’s cool”.
This particular statement has made him the trending topic on social media as his fans and other social media users are trolling him. Some posts on social media read:
That notwithstanding, Kulayaa isn’t the only actor to go down in history as Korean actress, Yuh-Jung Youn also became the first South Korean actress to win an Oscar for her role as the grandmother in Korean-American family drama ‘Minari’.
She beats Olivia Colman, Amanda Seyfried, Maria Bakalova, and Glenn Close to the prize for best-supporting actress. It was Close’s eighth nomination without a win. Youn told the crowd she “doesn’t believe in competition” and paid tribute to her fellow nominee, asking: “How can I win over Glenn Close?”
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