Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya is thrilled about the release of NOPE, his second cinematic collaboration with filmmaker Jordan Peele.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the British actor relished the opportunity to team up with Peele for a second time. Kaluuya signed on to the project without knowing about the plot, and found himself pleasantly surprised when he read the story.
“It was more [about] working with Jordan. Coming back and doing this with him. We had a lot of conversations building up to the shoot, and when I got to the set, I was like, ‘Oh sh*t, this is a f*cking action film. Holy sh*t.’ The most daring thing to do is go for it, [so] let’s do Bruce Willis then. Let’s go for this sh*t.”
Kaluuya and Peele’s last project was the modern horror classic Get Out, which frequents most of the lists of the 21st Century’s greatest movies, and saw Peele win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
While shooting Get Out, Peele frequently told Kaluuya “you’re my De Niro,” likening their relationship dynamic to the legendary collaborative partnership of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. NOPE sees the duo stretching their creative legs, with Kaluuya as an action hero and Peele exploring cutting-edge film technologies, which include shooting the film in 66mm Imax format.
Nope is a horror and science fiction fusion that sees Kaluuya star opposite Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun. Peele has remained tight-lipped about the plot, only disclosing that it’s centered around a shocking paranormal event in a small town in California.
NOPE hits cinemas on July 22.