Delroy Lindo earns first Oscar nomination for Sinners

Delroy Lindo, the Lewisham-born actor, has received his first Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role in Sinners, joining fellow British nominee Wunmi Mosaku as the UK’s presence at the awards ceremony on 15 March. The nomination was a surprise: Lindo, who was born in south London in 1952, was reportedly in bed in Los Angeles when his son rang to tell him, and he found 179 messages confirming the news.

Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, attracted a record 16 nominations; in the film Lindo plays Delta Slim, a bluesman who ends up barricaded in a Mississippi juke joint fighting vampires while confronting the spectre of Jim Crow racism. Lindo left Britain as a teenager and has said his relationship to the UK is "complicated." The son of Jamaican Windrush-generation parents, he has described the Windrush scandal as "disgusting and enraging" and said "British racism is every bit as virulent and violent as American racism." He has spoken of learning about Black British history from works such as Peter Fryer’s Staying Power and the work of Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy, and has written a screenplay based on his mother’s time in England.

Long established on stage and screen, Lindo has had a notable creative relationship with Spike Lee — critics have called him Lee’s "secret weapon" — and his work with Lee includes Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers and Da 5 Bloods.

Key Topics

Culture, Delroy Lindo, Sinners, Academy Awards, Wunmi Mosaku, Spike Lee