He is the Lewisham-born actor who, at the age of 73, finds himself in the running for an Oscar.
While Delroy Lindo can now reflect that being an Oscar nominee “has a certain ring to it”, the Sinners star says he was taken by surprise at the news when it first broke.
“My son called me,” he explains. “I will not say I was asleep, but I was not fully awake, and I’m listening to my son very excitedly say how proud of me he was.
“And I then noticed on my phone I had 179 Text messages, so I knew that something was up.”
While he says he is happy for viewers in the UK to “absolutely” root for him in the best supporting actor category on Oscars night, the Sinners star – who moved to the US in his teens – says he no longer considers himself a Brit.
“My career has been birthed and nurtured in America,” said Lindo. “I was born in Lewisham hospital, my family’s from Jamaica, and my mom was part of the Windrush generation. I am British to that extent, that is my reality.
“[But] I thank God I came to America, that I went to acting school in America, that I was a New York-based theatre actor for 10 years before I started doing film, and I thank God Spike Lee saw me on Broadway.”
As an actor who has quietly built a career of elevating whatever project he’s in, some of Lindo’s most unforgettable work has been with Lee.
In films like Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers and Da 5 Bloods, he’s played men shaped by power, anger and history.
While, arguably, the recognition is long overdue, his performance in Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror Sinners is a stand-out one.
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His role as the world-weary blues musician Delta Slim is one of the most layered characters of the piece – and one of the most talked about moments in the Jim Crow-era horror is the monologue Lindo delivers about a friend who was lynched.
“I started hearing from audiences how that scene was resonating for them, and at that point I knew there was something of real value,” he explains.
“The fact that Ryan gifted me that monologue in the car, that’s really rich stuff for any actor to wrestle with.”
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Regardless of how many awards Sinners wins, with its record-breaking 16 nominations it has already made it into the Oscars history books.
Whatever happens, Lindo says he’s looking forward to celebrating all that he and his co-stars have already achieved.
The Oscars takes place in Los Angeles on 15 March.
