‘Get Out’ Star Daniel Kaluuya is About to Be the Next Big Thing in Hollywood

At 27, Daniel Kaluuya has a somewhat familiar face. You may recognize him from the British Twilight Zone-like anthology series Black Mirror, or as Posh Kenneth in the British teen comedy-drama Skins. Perhaps you’ve seen him flex an American accent as Emily Blunt’s FBI sidekick in the Mexican drug cartel blockbuster Sicario.

Or maybe you recognize him from “Too Many Weave,” his viral parody of the grime collective Boy Better Know’s “Too Many Man” (see below).

As the leading man in Jordan Peele’s forthcoming race-driven psychological thriller, it’s very possible you’ll soon know the first-gen British-Ugandan actor as the next big name in Hollywood.

In the 24 hours since its trailer debuted, Get Out is shaping into one of 2017’s most talked-about films. The movie marks a surprising turn to the horror genre for Peele, one half of the comedy duo Key & Peele. In it, Kaluuya plays Chris, a black man about to meet his white girlfriend's family for the first time.

The trailer starts off pleasantly enough. A cute couple packs for what looks to be a Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner type of scenario. The boyfriend expresses some initial concerns that his girlfriend Rose (Girls' Allison Williams) hasn't told her parents she's dating a black guy.

Things take a turn for the bizarre and downright creepy when we get to the family's estate. Everyone, Rose's parents included, is completely out of their mind. We also learn from a friend of Chris that a bunch of black men have gone missing from that town.

From the trailer, it’s tough to say what’s actually going on, but whatever it is looks really fucking terrifying.

The movie also looks to be a rather unprecedented way of talking about race in America. "Like comedy, horror has an ability to provoke thought and further the conversation on real social issues in a very powerful way,” writer/director Peele said in a 2015 press release. “‘Get Out’ takes on the task of exploring race in America, something that hasn’t really been done within the genre since ‘Night of the Living Dead’ 47 years ago. It’s long overdue.”

In a 2014 interview with Playboy, the Comedy Central star revealed his directorial debut will be one of the very, very few horror movies that jumps off of racial fears. “That to me is a world that hasn’t been explored. Specifically, the fears of being a black man today. The fears of being any person who feels like they’re a stranger in any environment that is foreign to them. It deals with a protagonist that I don’t see in horror movies,” he said.

Get Out hits theaters on February 27, 2017. Until then, we’ve dug up a few videos of the film’s star. Like Peele, Kaluuya has been known to dabble in the sketch comedy world. (And he does a pretty fantastic T-Pain impression.)