Daniel Kaluuya says that the interviewers who ask him about his race as “more obsessed about it” than he is.
Earlier this week, the actor – who is promoting new film Queen & Slim – said he is tired of being defined by his race and asked about racial issues during interviews.
Kaluuya elaborated upon this in a new interview with The Independent, in which he criticised certain outlets for “using” his perspective to “entice people” into reading.
He recalled a recent encounter that saw a journalist couch a leading question about his decision to leave the UK in a compliment about the film Get Out, which he starred in.
“That’s what they lead with, that I said I had to leave the UK,” he said. “That’s what they’re hearing when I talk. People think that it’s me bringing up [race] when people are just asking me about it. The person that’s asking me about it is more obsessed about it than I am, but then I look more like the one who’s obsessed.”
He continued: “The people that see you more as a person, they’re gonna come to you as a more rounded being and they’re gonna ask it in a much more sensitive and nuanced way. They ain’t gonna reduce it like that, because they care about the impact of it, and the effect of it.
“A lot of the people I’m talking to aren’t respectful of the issue, which is why they’ll reduce it, and they’ll twist it.
Referencing the recent article that distorted Stormzy’s quotes about racism existing in the UK, Kaluuya added: “Look at the Stormzy thing – boom, and it’s twisted.”
Kaluuya appeared alongside Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith on The Graham Norton Show, which was mired with criticism after viewers called out for Jim Carrey for making an “awkward” joke about Margot Robbie’s looks.
Queen & Slim is in cinemas now.
