Daniel Kaluuya And LaKeith Stanfield’s Twin Best Supporting Actor Oscar Noms For ‘Judas And The Black Messiah’ Have People Scratching Their Heads

If you watched Judas and the Black Messiah, you’d probably come away with the assumption that either Daniel Kaluuya‘s Fred Hampton or LaKeith Stanfield‘s William O’Neal is the lead. One of those actors played the main character, so when Oscars time comes around, obviously one of them has to get the Best Actor nod for their standout performances, and the other would get Best Supporting Actor — or not.

In a move that has left social media very confused, both Kaluuya and Stanfield were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, which would seemingly suggest that Judas and the Black Messiah has no lead actor. It’s kind of a weird look when it comes to a film about one of the most prominent Black activists in America. Of course, submitting both Kaluuya and Stanfield in the supporting category could’ve been an intentional decision by the filmmakers, or even the actors themselves, so as not to elevate one over the other. But until we hear an official decision on the reason for Judas and the Black Messiah‘s missing lead, the confused Twitter reactions are pouring in.

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 15, 2021

if both daniel kaluuya and lakeith stanfield are supporting actors in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH then who in the world is the lead pic.twitter.com/sXbaEyKguO

— karen han (@karenyhan) March 15, 2021

So #DanielKaluuya and #LakeithStanfield are both up for best supporting in #JudasAndTheBlackMessiah. Explain to me how they managed to let neither of them be the lead in their own movie pic.twitter.com/c3pO5EiP1j

— BlackOnBlackCinema (@BlackonCinema) March 15, 2021

Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield trying to figure out who was the lead of their own movie pic.twitter.com/yttIEcumwu

— Jonathan (@jm_boehle) March 15, 2021

Jesse Plemons waking up this morning to find out that he’s the lead of Judas and the Black Messiah: pic.twitter.com/O8lWOB7b6E

— Matthew Eng (@Eng_Matthew) March 15, 2021

Here’s how Kaluuya described playing Fred Thompson to Uproxx shortly after Judas and the Black Messiah’s release: “I had to step up and stand at my full height in order to reach the incredible spiritual heights that he reached. I did that. Then drop by drop a river is formed. I moved like that. Didn’t try and do too much too quick. Just little by little, and not beat myself and judge myself when I didn’t go in the right direction in the process of building an interpretation of Chairman Fred.”

And here’s Stanfield on the challenge of bringing humanity to FBI Informant Bill O’Neal: “You could see, even though he was attempting to try and be tough and not let his interior show, you could see, in little slivers in-between, what he didn’t say that he felt very guilty about what he did. You could see it in the [Eyes on the Prize] interview! ‘I felt bad about it, but I had to continue to play the role.’ The fact that he felt bad about it, that’s all I needed to know. Now I know that he’s a human being and, okay, now I can play you. I can’t play anyone that’s just not a human. But if you’re a human, I can play you.”

This year’s Oscars ceremony will air on April 25.