The Oscar for supporting actor went to Daniel Kaluuya for his role in “Judas and the Black Messiah” at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. This was Kaluuya’s second nomination; he had been previously recognized for his role in 2017’s “Get Out.”
Kaluuya was in the unusual position of competing against his costar in the movie, LaKeith Stanfield, also nominated for supporting actor. This was the 20th time in Oscar history that multiple performers from the same film have been nominated for supporting actor, but the first for two Black actors. Kaluuya is also the first Black actor to win competing against a costar. Of the 19 previous showdowns, only six resulted in a win for one of the nominated costars.
In “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, the young, charismatic leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party who was killed by police while at home in Chicago on Dec. 4, 1969. Directed by Shaka King, the film explores the dynamic between Hampton and William O’Neal (Stanfield), the head of his security detail who was also an FBI informant and instrumental in the raid that took Hampton’s life.
In a speech that immediately became the stuff of Oscar legend, Kaluuya began by saying, “To chairman Fred Hampton. What a man, what a man. How blessed we are they we lived in a lifetime that he existed. Thank you for your light. He was on this earth for 21 years, 21 years and he found a way to feed kids breakfast, educate kids, give free medical care, against all the odds.
“He showed me, he taught me,” Kaluuya said. “Him, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party, they showed me how to love myself. And with that love they overflowed it to the Black community and then to other communities. And they showed us the power of union, the power of unity. That when they played divide and conquer, we say unite and ascend. Thank you so much for showing me myself.
“There’s so much work to do guys, and that’s on everyone in this room, this ain’t no single man job. And I look to every single one of you, you got work to do,” Kaluuya continued. “And I’m gonna get back to work Tuesday morning, because tonight I’m going up. We’re going up. Gonna enjoy myself tonight. We gotta celebrate. We gotta celebrate life. We’re breathing, we’re walking, it’s incredible. Like it’s incredible. My mom met my dad, they had sex. It’s amazing, you know what I’m saying, I’m here. I’m so happy to be alive, so we’re going to celebrate that tonight. I appreciate every single person in the room, I appreciate everyone watching at home. Love. Peace, love and onwards.”
Kaluuya was also a winner for the role at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and SAG Awards.
Aside from Stanfield, also nominated in the category were Sacha Baron Cohen, with his first acting nomination for “The Trial of the Chicago 7″ (he’s also a screenwriting nominee this year for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”); Leslie Odom, Jr., also nominated for original song for “One Night in Miami”; and Paul Raci for “Sound of Metal.”
1939 Hattie McDaniel for Gone With the Wind
Best Supporting Actress
1963 Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field
Best Actor
1982 Louis Gossett, Jr. for An Officer and a Gentlemen
Best Supporting Actor
1989 Denzel Washington for Glory
Best Supporting Actor
1990 Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost
Best Supporting Actress
1996 Cuba Gooding, Jr. for Jerry Maguire
Best Supporting Actor
2001 Denzel Washington for Training Day
Best Actor
2001 Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball
Best Actress
2004 Jamie Foxx for Ray
Best Actor
2004 Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby
Best Supporting Actor
2006 Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
Best Actor
2006 Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Best Supporting Actress
2009 Mo’Nique for Precious
Best Supporting Actress
2011 Octavia Spencer for The Help
Best Supporting Actress
2014 Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave
Best Supporting Actress
What follows on this page are the other Black performers who have been Oscar nominated. To date, 50 Black actors have been nominated for (acting) Academy Awards.
Besides the 14 Black actors who have won Academy Awards (some nominated more than once), the following Black performers have been nominated as actors.
1948 Ethel Waters for Pinky
1954 Dorothy Dandridge for Carmen Jones
1958 Sidney Poitier for The Defiant Ones
1959 Juanita Moore for Imitation of Life
1967 Beah Richards for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
1969 Rupert Crosse for The Reivers
1970 James Earl Jones for The Great White Hope
1972 Paul Winfield for Sounder
1972 Cicely Tyson for Sounder
1972 Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues
1974 Diahann Carroll for Claudine
1981 Howard Rollins for Ragtime
1983 Alfre Woodard for Cross Creek
1984 Adolph Caesar for A Soldier’s Story
1984 Morgan Freeman for Street Smart
1985 Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple
1985 Oprah Winfrey for The Color Purple
1985 Margaret Avery for The Color Purple
1986 Dexter Gordon for Round Midnight
1987 Denzel Washington for Cry Freedom
1989 Morgan Freeman for Driving Miss Daisy (and 1994 for The Shawshank Redemption)
1992 Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game
1992 Denzel Washington for Malcolm X
1993 Laurence Fishburne for What’s Love Got to Do With It
1993 Angela Bassett for What’s Love Got to Do With It
1994 Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction
1996 Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Secrets & Lies
1999 Denzel Washington for The Hurricane
1999 Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile
2001 Will Smith for Ali (and 2006 for The Pursuit of Happiness)
2002 Queen Latifah for Chicago
2003 Djimon Hounsou for In America (and 2006 for Blood Diamond)
2004 Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda
2004 Jamie Foxx for Collateral
2004 Sophie Okonedo for Hotel Rwanda
2005 Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow
2006 Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
2007 Ruby Dee for American Gangster
2008 Viola Davis for Doubt
2008 Taraji Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2009 Gabourey Sidibefor Precious
2009 Morgan Freeman for Invictus
2011 Viola Davisfor The Help
2012 Denzel Washington for Flight
2012 Quvenzhane’ Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
2013 Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips
2013 Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave
Denzel Washington has received the most nominations – an impressive six!
Morgan Freeman comes in second with 5 nominations!
