Following the Oscar nominations, Wunmi Mosaku was celebrated as Britain’s savior after receiving a Best Supporting Actress nod at Hollywood’s most prestigious awards. The UK had been facing its first year without any acting nominations since 1986.
However, the star of Sinners was joined by a fellow cast member, Lewisham-born Delroy Lindo, who will also represent Britain at the ceremony on March 15.
The actor, born in south London in 1952, was a surprise pick in the Best Supporting Actor category, surpassing expected nominee Paul Mescal and helping Sinners achieve a record 16 nominations.
Lindo was reportedly as shocked as the rest of the industry. Lying in bed in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, he received a call from his son with the news. “Really? Are you serious?” he asked, before checking his phone and finding 179 messages confirming it.
In Ryan Coogler’s box office hit, Lindo plays Delta Slim, a blues musician who ends up barricaded in a Mississippi juke joint, fighting vampires while confronting the looming threat of Jim Crow racism. For many, this seemed the perfect role for an African American cultural icon, but the reality is more nuanced: Lindo is a child of the Black Atlantic.
Unlike Mosaku, who can still quote a Greggs menu and has a strong Mancunian accent, Lindo shows no trace of a London accent after leaving the capital for the US as a teenager.
His first film role was as an army sergeant in the sequel to American Graffiti—the unimaginatively named and critically panned More American Graffiti (1979), filmed while he was still in acting school.
But it was his first-ever acting role as one of the three kings in a primary school nativity play in south London that sparked his passion for acting. A teacher praised Lindo, the only black child in his school, telling others in the cast to “do it like Delroy does it.”
That is one of the few positive memories Lindo has of a country that, when he left, was grappling with rising support for far-right groups like the National Front and the overtly racist political rhetoric of Enoch Powell, whose 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech targeted families like the Lindos.
Recalling the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, he said, “It did not surprise me, given incidents that happened to me there.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lindo often describes his relationship with the UK as “complicated.” His Jamaican parents emigrated as part of the Windrush generation, but it was only after leaving Britain as a teenager that he learned about Black British history through books like Peter Fryer’s landmark Staying Power and the work of academics such as Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy.
He was disturbed by the Windrush scandal, calling it “disgusting and enraging,” and added that “British racism is every bit as virulent and violent as American racism.” Speaking to the Guardian in 2020, Lindo said he became aware of many unexplored aspects of the Black British experience. “I’m curious to unpack those stories,” he said. “I have an intense interest in the Windrush period because my mom was part of that.”
His research had a purpose: he has also written a screenplay based on his mother’s time in England, although he doesn’t view his own years in the UK through rose-tinted glasses. “Everything I have achieved in my life has come as a result of leaving England,” he said. “I could never in a trillion years have had this career in England. Never.”
A look at his resume suggests he has a point. Lindo’s filmography is filled with…Delroy Lindo has achieved the kind of roles that Black British actors working in the UK could only dream of in the 1980s and 1990s. An accomplished stage actor, he made his Broadway debut alongside Danny Glover in the apartheid-era drama “Master Harold… and the Boys.” He got the opportunity because James Earl Jones, whom he was understudying, had to go to Hollywood to complete voice work for Star Wars.
Lindo successfully balanced a stage career with mainstream film roles, such as in the Elmore Leonard adaptation Get Shorty and the action movie Gone in 60 Seconds, where he starred alongside Nicolas Cage and Vinnie Jones.
However, he is best known for his collaboration with Spike Lee. Described as Lee’s “secret weapon,” his work with the director has elevated him “from memorable face to belated leading man,” according to one critic, who noted that Lindo creates “characters no one else in the Lee orbit would have been right to play.”
He was a strong contender for an Oscar nomination in 2020 for his performance in Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, where he played an African American Vietnam veteran returning to the country to confront his past. Ultimately, he was overlooked—the recognition for The Sinners marks his first Oscar nomination.
That film was his fourth collaboration with Lee, a partnership that has produced some of his most critically acclaimed work. Da 5 Bloods followed three films he made with Lee in the 1990s: a menacing criminal mentor in Malcolm X, a struggling father in Crooklyn, and a bellicose drug boss in Lee’s haunting adaptation of Richard Price’s Clockers.
In a 2000 interview with the Guardian around the release of Gone in 60 Seconds, Lindo was asked what irked him most about Hollywood. “I wish there were more adherence paid to the body of one’s work,” he said. “I always feel that people only remember the last thing that I did, and that’s unfortunate.”
Perhaps on Sunday, March 15, when Hollywood honors its stars, Lindo will hope that voters do focus on the last thing he did and seize the chance to award an Oscar to one of the industry’s most consistent talents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Delroy Lindo
BeginnerLevel Questions
Q Who is Delroy Lindo
A Delroy Lindo is a highly respected actor known for his powerful performances in films like Da 5 Bloods Malcolm X and Get Shorty
Q Why is he in the news recently
A Hes generating buzz because of his acclaimed role in Spike Lees Da 5 Bloods and the exciting possibility of him taking on a major role in an upcoming project potentially making him a key player for director Spike Lee
Q Is Delroy Lindo American
A While hes a longtime resident of the United States and a naturalized US citizen he was actually born in London England This is the British part of the British asset description
Q What does Spike Lees notsosecret British asset mean
A Its a playful way of saying that Lindo with his British background and immense talent is a uniquely valuable and trusted collaborator for director Spike Lee ready to take on significant roles in his films
Q What was his big Oscarnominated role
A While he has not yet been nominated for an Oscar his performance as Paul in Spike Lees Da 5 Bloods was widely considered a major snub by the Academy with many critics and audiences believing he deserved a nomination for Best Actor
Advanced CareerFocused Questions
Q How long has he been working with Spike Lee
A Their collaboration spans decades It began with Lees landmark film Malcolm X and includes Crooklyn Clockers and most recently Da 5 Bloods
Q What makes his collaboration with Spike Lee so special
A Lindo brings a commanding presence deep emotional intensity and intellectual rigor to his roles Lee trusts him with complex morally layered characters that are central to the films themes often dealing with race history and personal conflict
Q Beyond Spike Lee what are some of his other iconic roles
A He is famous for playing West Indian Archie in
