Daniel Kaluuya is currently in the middle of a press tour for Jordan Peele’s latest horror movie Nope. He recently stopped by The Daily Show, and Trevor Noah couldn’t help but ask him about his cheeky Oscar acceptance speech when he won Best Supporting Actor in 2021.
Noah, who is South African, and Kaluuya (whose parents are Ugandan) bonded over their African heritage in the interview. Noah brings up the fact that Kaluuya said in his speech; “I want to thank my Mum and Dad for having sex.” Kaluuya laughs and says; “you’re the only one whose ever asked me [about that].”
Noah says; “your Mum was there, in the audience” and Kaluuya says; “she was in London, which is probably why I did it.” Noah says; “So, they cut to a live feed of your Mum in the London audience, and she is an African Mum and everyone was laughing, and your Mum was like; ‘did this guy just say I have sex on TV?’ So, from one African to another, I would like to know – how did you avoid the volcano that comes [after that]? Did she say anything to you about that?”
Kaluuya (who is laughing his head off) says; “Of course she did! But it was months later. It’s cooking, it’s still cooking. If I do something, it’s like [mimes being shot] pop-pop-pop. But I was like; ‘I’ve got your personality’ but yeah, it was interesting. I face-timed her right after, I was like; ‘Mum, Mum, Mum, joking. It happened, but I’m joking.’
Kaluuya continues; “People have asked me why I said it, and I say; ‘how did you get here? How did everyone get here? Your Mum and Dad had sex.'” Noah says; “but African parents are like; ‘we know how we got here, but we don’t talk about it.'” Kaluuya says; “you know I’m a renegade, man.”
Nope is out in US theatres now, and comes to most international markets between August 10-12. It made $44 million in its opening weekend in the US, the best opening for an original film since Peele’s last movie – Us. It has an 82% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Check out our guide to the best science fiction movies.