This piece was originally written for the Savannah College of Art and Design student media publication District. Through District I obtained a media pass for the masterclass on acting lead by Daniel Kaluuya l during the 2019-2020 academic year SCAD film festival. I attended the masterclass and took notes on what was said in order to write this piece. I chose to attend this masterclass because I was interested to hear about storytelling through performing arts, for it is a medium that I am unfamiliar with, and I had great respect for Kaluuya and his growing career. Photo by Mallory Chain.
Daniel Kaluuya opened his masterclass with SCAD students by telling them about a talk he attended as a 15-year-old, before he even entered the industry. There, he learned one of the most important pieces of advice he’s ever received about the audition process: leave as quickly as possible.
“You can talk yourself out of a job,” Kaluuya explained with a laugh.
He went on to discuss the origins of his career; he began doing improvisational work for children. He loved this work because children were honest audience members, if they thought you were “rubbish”, as he stated it, they would let you know. A major focus of Kaluuya’s masterclass was just that: honesty.
The hour-long session consisted of Kaluuya speaking and answering questions on the acting industry. The crowd of dozens, situated in an intimately sized room, could feel as though they were each talking with the actor one-on-one. It’s as if he’s sharing special secrets of the industry just with them, in such a casual setting he might even grab Starbucks with them after.
He went on to elaborate on his relationship with improvisation. When it comes to preparing for auditions, he makes sure he knows the scene, and he “sketches out” how he wants to act it out in his mind, but he does not say the words aloud until the actual audition to make sure his performance is authentic.
“As a character, I don’t know that this scene is going to happen,” Kaluuya stated, “This is now.”
When questioned about his experience with using a different accent to his own while acting, he explained that accents are not all about how you sound, they are about your attitude.
While he was trying to learn the American accent, he discovered that he was being taught the “general American accent”, but it was the white American accent. He needed to discover who he would be if he were an American in order to pull off the accent correctly. He then maintained that accent for his entire time on set.
He went on to explain that this helped if he wanted to improvise a line, if he always used the accent, he would not second guess it.
While describing a specific instance of improvisation, he brought up one of his most well-known scenes: the part of “Get Out” when Kaluuya’s character, Chris, shouts at Rose (Allison WIlliams) to give him the keys. That line was not from the script, but Kaluuya added it in as a visceral reaction to the emotions of the scene.
“I was like, ‘this guy needs to get out’,” Kaluuya said as the crowd laughed.
Chris knew he was not going to get the keys, he was really begging Rose to tell the truth, but she wouldn’t.
“Get Out” is a largely venerated film and Kaluuya has received widespread praise for his role in it; many SCAD students want to find a role that launches their career as much as Chris Washington did for Daniel Kaluuya.
Kaluuya’s advice on getting into the industry is to know yourself and why you’re doing this.
“My career changed when I knew who I was making films for,” the actor admitted.
He added that it’s important to keep working between jobs.
“If you’re waiting for a phone call, you’re just getting good at waiting for a phone call,” he explained.
The last question asked of Daniel Kaluuya before the masterclass ended was how knows when he’s really in his role, when he’s genuinely become his character.
“When I stop thinking,” he answered simply.
When he stops thinking and he surprises himself, that's when he knows he is being truly honest.
See it on the District website! Masterclass with Daniel Kaluuya dives deep into the acting industry – SCAD District
留言