Daniel Kaluuya to Be Honored With Statue in Central London

Daniel Kaluuya is to be honored with a statue in his home city of London celebrating the actor’s breakout role in 2017 hit “Get Out.”

The Oscar-winning star, now considered one of the U.K.’s finest on-screen talents, was chosen from a poll of 5,000 British film fans as the actor people would most like to see as part of the “Scenes in the Square” trail in Leicester Square, landing one fifth of the vote. His statue — depicting the famed ‘Sunken Place’ scene in “Get Out” in which Kaluuya’s character falls into a hypnosis-induced suppressed metaphysical abyss — will be unveiled in October.

Kaluuya joins an eclectic array of statues on the trail from the past century of cinema, including Harry Potter, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins and Gene Kelly. These figures were unveiled 4 years ago and have since seen additions such as the “Game of Thrones” iron throne, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Indiana Jones temporarily gracing the Square. Kaluuya’s statue will reportedly represent modern cinematic success and homegrown talent.  

“We are excited to welcome Daniel Kaluuya and Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ to our Scenes in the Square line-up as a celebration of a modern cinematic success and homegrown British talent,” said Mark Williams, deputy chief executive for Heart of London Business Alliance, which runs ‘Scenes in the Square’ with support from Westminster City Council. “It points to a bright future for our trail, with Kaluuya as a chosen symbol of the future of entertainment, and it is a pleasure to be able to spotlight such a pioneering film.” 

As well as providing a breakout moment for Kaluuya, who would go on to appear in “Black Panther,” “Judas and the Black Messiah” (for which he earned a supporting actor Oscar) and “Nope,” “Get Out” also catapulted writer/director Jordan Peele into A-list filmmaker territories. Despite a budget of under $5 million, the film shattered numerous box office records, earning more than $250 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing debut film based on an original script in Hollywood history. It went on to land four Oscar nominations, including best picture, actor (Kaluuya) and directing (Peele) — and won Peele the Academy Award for original screenplay.

According to the organizers, the unveiling of the “Get Out” statue of Kaluuya coincides with Halloween and the U.K.’s Black History Month, in keeping both with the film’s horror genre and its themes that highlight the culture of Black Americans and their lived experiences.