Daniel Kaluuya's breakout 2017, which of course included his starring turn in Jordan Peele's brilliant Get Out (plus countless FOMO-fearing Netflix bingers first seeing him in Black Mirror's "Fifteen Million Merits" while catching up for season 4), just earned him a well-deserved honor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
During Sunday's ceremony at Royal Albert Hall in London, Kaluuya was given the EE Rising Star Award. The honor is an annual one and is intended to name the "young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public" in a given year. Florence Pugh, Josh O'Connor, Tessa Thompson, and Call Me by Your Name/Lady Bird star Timothée Chalamet were also nominated.
"I am a product of arts funding within the United Kingdom," Kaluuya said during his acceptance speech. "I'd like to thank people that financially support that, obviously in the mainstream arts but also grassroots levels." Kaluuya also shouted out his mother, as we all should, telling the audience she is "the reason why I started, the reason why I'm here, and the reason why I keep going."
For his role as Chris Washington in Peele's directorial debut, Kaluuya is also up for Best Actor at next month's Oscars. The film ultimately bagged four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. "I just spoke to Daniel," Peele said the morning the nominees were unveiled in January. "You know when you're on the phone trying to disguise the sound of an ugly cry? I failed at that. Right now I'm just thinking about everyone who bought a ticket and told someone else to. You did this. Thank you."
For President's Day, which is in fact today, select AMC theaters are offering a limited number of free tickets to catch Get Out again on the big screen. Do that.
