Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya addresses Samuel L. Jackson's comments: “I resent that I have to prove I'm black”

FilmMagic/Roy Rochlin(LOS ANGELES) — Daniel Kaluuya, the black British star of Jordan Peele’s racial-horror hit Get Out, has responded to Samuel L. Jackson’s recent criticism of movies casting black British actors in movies about with American race relations.

In a radio interview last week, Jackson questioned how the horror film would have turned out if it would have been made with an American lead versus a British actor, Kaluuya. Jackson later clarified his comments to Entertainment Tonight, saying the conversation was taken out of context and he “totally respects…those U.K. guys that come over here and work.”

But in an interview with GQ, Kaluuya addresses Jackson’s comments and offers his thoughts about racism.

“Big up Samuel L Jackson, because here’s a guy who has broken down doors.” Kaluuya said.

“Here’s the thing about that critique, though,” he added. “I’m dark-skinned. When I’m around black people, I’m made to feel ‘other’ because I’m dark-skinned. I’ve had to wrestle with that, with people going ‘You’re too black.’ Then I come to America and they say, ‘You’re not black enough.’”

In his interview, Kaluuya explains those in the U.K. also experience racism, but says that such issues aren’t always covered in the mainstream media.

“This is the frustrating thing…in order to prove that I can play this role, I have to open up about the trauma that I’ve experienced as a black person,” he said. “I have to show off my struggle so that people accept that I’m black. No matter that every single room I go to, I’m usually the darkest person there. I kind of resent that mentality.”

“I resent that I have to prove that I’m black. I don’t know what that is. I’m still processing it,” he adds.

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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