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‘I’ve Been Eating Thousands Of Cicadas Just In Case That’s The Requirement For Getting A Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame’: 5 Questions With Daniel Kaluuya

Daniel Kaluuya is taking Hollywood by storm. His performance in the horror hit ‘Get Out’ earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and his appearance in ‘Black Panther’ is earning rave reviews. We sat down with the talented young actor to ask him a few questions about his life and career.

1. Do you prefer doing film or stage work?

I love both, but I prefer being interviewed on the local news about gas prices. Giving my two cents on the fluctuating prices of oil is as good as it gets.

2. You work a lot in horror and superhero films. Were you a fan of these genres growing up?

The only film genre I was a fan of growing up was werewolf movies where the werewolf gets cured of being a werewolf in the first scene and then spends the rest of the film apologizing to all of the livestock they bit. It’s a genre called “apologizing werewolf” that was very popular in Thailand in the 1930s. I don’t speak Thai, but they’re pretty easy to follow, as the only lines of dialogue are things like, “I’m no longer a werewolf,” and “I’m sorry I bit you, cow,” and, “How are you, sheep? I won’t bite you again, because I am no longer a wolf-man.” This is still the only type of movie I like, which is why I’m not particularly fond of Get Out or Black Panther.

3. Do you have any desire to work behind the camera as a writer or director?

My real dream is to work inside the camera as the tiny man who operates all of the gears and lenses that make the camera work. I saw one of these men fall out of a camera while filming Black Panther, and he was incredible. He was naked, completely shaved, and lubricated so he didn’t get snagged in the camera’s gears, and he was covered in burns from working in such a hot environment. I have no idea how he got so small, but I hope they can find a way to do that to me so I can go in a camera someday.

4. Get Out was your first lead role in a major motion picture. Did the fact that both of you and first-time director Jordan Peele were fairly fresh to this type of thing affect the project in any way?

Since I was kind of new to Hollywood, I didn’t really know what you’re required to do to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I’m still not entirely sure, but I’ve been eating a lot of cicadas just in case eating 1,000 cicadas is the way you get your name on the Walk of Fame.

5. What’s a role you haven’t played yet but desperately want to try?

I’ve always thought a really beautiful story would be a skeleton who climbs out of an old man’s body at night to go and dance at a club like they’re young again. As an actor, the skeleton’s the more interesting character to portray, but on the other hand, the old man gets to lie down the whole time, so I’d be equally happy in either part.