Before the release of Get Out Jordan Peele was primarily known for his work on the Comedy Central sketch show Key & Peele, as well as his starring roles on Mad TV, Fargo, and Keanu.
But Peele had always wanted to move away from acting and focus his attention on writing and directing. On Saturday night Peele told the crowd at the Directors Guild Of America Awards that he was “helped” in his quest to finally quit acting courtesy of a “f—ed up” offer to star in “The Emoji Movie.”
Earlier in the evening the animated film, which was released to scathing reviews back in July, 2017, was the subject of ridicule from host Judd Apatow. According to Entertainment Weekly, the mere mention of “The Emoji Movie” provoked Peele to admit, “I was offered the role of Poop — this is true. I would not make this up.”
“I was offered the role of Poop; I was like, ‘That’s f—ed up.’ I told my manager, ‘That’s f—ed up, let me sleep on it.’ I came back the next day, I said, ‘Well, what are they offering?’ And they said, ‘Oh, well they’ve already given it to Sir Patrick Stewart.’ I was like, ‘F— this.’ That’s a true story.”
Peele recalled the above after he won the First-Time Feature Film award for his work on “Get Out,” while he was also presented with a DGA medallion as the horror comedy was nominated for Best Feature Film, a prize that “The Shape Of Water” ultimately claimed.
After being presented with his medallion, Peele decided to make an impromptu joke about a sequel to his hit debut film, quipping that he had spent the ceremony asking two legendary actors to star and that it would, apparently, be a crossover of “Get Out,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” and “Beauty And The Beast.”
“For what it’s worth, I just signed Garrett Morris and Angela Lansbury to the sequel, ‘Get Out 2: Driving Miss Rosie.’ Angela plays the love interest, but she also does the voice for the teacup.”
Considering the triumph that is “Get Out,” there’s no doubt in my mind that Peele could still make it work.
