Since his first screen appearance in the 1976 thriller PartnersDelroy Lindo has always managed to stand out even among the most star-studded cast, be it as the West Indian Archie in MalcolmWoody Carmichael in CrooklinBass Reeves in The harder they fall Or his recent role as Delta Slim Sinners.
“I have no desire to discredit or belittle myself, but I don’t think of myself as a leading man; I think of myself as an actor,” Lindo says. “In terms of the space that I occupy and that I work to fill on any project, I just think about how can I embody this character as best as I can and how can I most effectively fill the space that this character occupies in the script? Really, from that standpoint, it has nothing to do with me being a leading man. And frankly, it has nothing to do with me being a character actor. It’s about how do I do the best job I can in this business.”
The Delta Slim’s screen time in Ryan Coogler’s horror movie pales in comparison to the Lindo Effect. His role as a harmonica player who medicates himself to cope with life as a black man in the Jim Crow South earned the veteran actor his first Academy Award nomination at the age of 73 for Best Supporting Actor.
Lindo pulled from various media to form the legendary Mississippi character. “It started when Ryan sent me two books. He sent me. He sent me two books.” Blues people By Amiri Baraka, and he sent me Deep blues By Robert Palmer. “I then started on my own research path. I watched a lot of documentaries, I listened to a lot of music — Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Ike Turner — and also documentaries about people from the Delta, and I didn’t just focus on the way they talked, their rhythms, how they were and who they were,” Lindo recalls.
It’s the glimpse into Slim’s personal depression as the character details the night he and a friend were arrested while riding in front of a chain gang with Stack (Michael B. Jordan, who also plays Stack’s twin brother, Smoke) and Sammie (Miles Caton) that moved audiences the most. Lindo stirs up more emotion with an emotional moan and patting his hand on his thigh than any additional dialogue could.
“The end of the monologue in the car, when that hula broke in, was improvised,” Lindo explains. “It came out of working on the scene. We probably shot six or seven takes of it…but overall, it was put into the script by Ryan.”
Lindo is currently raising money to bring his screenplay to life Jabari peoplea tale intertwined with grief and magical realism set in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, would mark the directorial debut of the son of Jamaican immigrants who was born in London and later moved with his mother to Toronto before settling in San Francisco as a teenager. As for any offers that might land on his desk as a result of his Oscar nomination, he’s reluctant to speculate.
“I really resist thinking like that because, you know, in this industry, nothing is promised. It’s more challenging for actors of color, and I’m not crying about it. That’s a statement of fact,” Lindo says. “We’ll see.”
However, the wave of admiration for his portrayal is still strong, as he echoes the praise the actor received for his role as a retired Vietnam veteran in Spike Lee’s 2020 war drama. That’s 5 bloodfor which Lindo was expected to receive a Lead Actor Oscar nomination.
“I remember never having had so much consistent appreciation for my work. It was overwhelming. It was as if my mother wrote those reviews,” he recounts, laughing. “This was very similar.”
Recalling stories of him being stopped by fans who shared first-hand the impact his work had on their lives, Lindo adds, “That was honestly one of the things that helped me keep going. I’m not saying I would have stopped without that – I wouldn’t have done it – but it certainly goes a long way in giving one confidence and a certain feeling that there are a lot of people out there who appreciate what I’ve done over the years.”
While audiences eagerly await his next role, Lindo admits he put a bug in Coogler’s ear about his hopes of reuniting for the film. Black Panther 3 A Marvel sequel is in development.
“I expressed to Ryan that if the stars aligned, I would love to be involved Black Panther 3“One of the things he told me was anything he was going to give me, he wanted to make sure it was worth my time,” Lindo says. He didn’t say that exactly, but that’s basically the feeling. “I respect that.”
This story appeared in the February 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
