Ahead of the 90th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night, Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya of “Get Out” recalled their first conversation after learning of their Oscar nominations last year.
Peele, who is up for three Oscars — best picture, best director and best original screenplay — for his debut horror film “Get Out,” said it was a surreal moment when he received a congratulatory call from Kaluuya.
“I couldn’t even say anything … [I said,] ‘I’ve got to call you later,'” Peele, 39, told ABC News. “But he was like, ‘Bro, bro, bro. … Look they don’t give me lead roles in England, and you put me in this.’ And, it just hit me, because I’ve been an actor too.”
“It was almost like the way he was getting me with those words was a fulfillment of everything I’ve been working for as an actor in a weird way,” he continued.
Should Peele, 39, win for best original screenplay, he will become the first person of color to take home the Oscar in that category. If “Get Out” wins best picture, he would also become the first black director to win that award, as well.
And while it was a landmark moment for Kaluuya to earn a best actor nomination in “Get Out,” the 29-year-old noted that it was only made possible by Peele’s genius effort.
“I said that Jordan deserves it, Jordan deserves it,” Kaluuya said, recalling the conversation. “He’s made an incredible film. And I was like, you deserve it bro, you deserve every bit of this. And it was a really nice moment.”
The 90th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live on ABC Sunday night, starting at 8 p.m. ET.
