Press Association

'Get Out' star Daniel Kaluuya wasn't invited to film's premiere

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Feb 23, 2021 12:21 PM ET

There wouldn't be Get Out without Daniel Kaluuya's brilliant performance as Chris Washington, but the London-bred actor was still left out from the 2017 thriller's premiere.

"They didn't invite me, bro," Kaluuya said during a recent virtual appearance on The Graham Norton Show. "On the Sundance world premiere, I was in Atlanta because I was shooting [Black] Panther. I was chilling, and I was, like, cleared my scheduled ... and then just didn't get an invite [laughs]. I wasn't invited, so I was just in bed."

Kaluuya was asked if the awkward situation has come up in conversation since, which he shrugged off. "I don't ask questions," he said. "You don't wanna be in a place that you don't feel wanted."

Get Out, Jordan Peele's directorial debut, was released to worldwide acclaim from both audiences and critics. Peele's plot followed Kaluuya as Washington, who goes to meet his white girlfriend, Rose's (Allison Williams) for the first time and is forced to confront especially sinister systemic racism. The film won an Oscar for best original screenplay, while nominated for best picture of the year. Kaluuya was also Oscar-nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role.

The 31-year-old stopped by The Graham Norton Show on a separate occasion earlier this month to discuss his experiences filming Black Panther as well as seeing Get Out in the heart of Atlanta on his birthday:

After Get Out, Kaluuya continued to ascend. He played W'Kabi—best friend to T'Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman—in Black Panther, which resonated at a mind-boggling clip and broke records left and right. Most recently, he starred as Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah:

The historical drama is based on true events. Hampton was murdered by Chicago police in December 1969 at 21 years old after William O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) infiltrated the Black Panther Party as a recruited FBI informant.

Judas and the Black Messiah was released in theaters and simultaneously made available to stream on HBO Max on Feb. 12.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

More must-reads: