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Us is currently killing (figuratively and literally) in the theaters, breaking records and perplexing minds all over the country. The film’s crafter Jordan Peele stopped by the East Hollywood’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre to talk about his growing success as a director and shared gems that helped him along the way.
If you’re a white male actor looking to grab a lead in one of Peele’s future films, don’t count on it according to the director. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the director told the crowd “I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie,” opting to stick with the winning formula of casting black leads. He also added “Not that I don’t like white dudes. But I’ve seen that movie. It really is one of the best, greatest pieces of this story, is feeling like we are in this time — a renaissance has happened and proved the myths about representation in the industry are false.”
A comment that is sure to ruffle a few white thespians feathers but oh well. Peele opened up about wanting to sit in the directors since high school, not getting in NYU as planned ultimately going to Sarah Lawrence College for 2 years and eventually dropping out to focus on improv and sketch comedy.
“The day I didn’t go to NYU, I said maybe [directing] wasn’t for me,” he explained. “I knew I had to leave. But it’s not a classically lucrative industry, so it’s not like I can recommend that black people get into it because it doesn’t pay.”
Well if you ask anyone he definitely took the right path, he took home an Academy Award in 2018 for his “documentary” Get Out. When it comes to the reasoning about success, Peele attributed it to working with the right group of people.
“The more you are armed with what you take in, the more ammo you have,” he explained. “Directing for me is about hiring the right people, listening to them and helping them do the best job possible.”
Us is still in theaters, yeah go see that immediately.
