Delroy Lindo opens up after receiving 1st Oscar nomination at 73

Acclaimed actor Delroy Lindo is opening up about receiving his first Oscar nomination at the age of 73.

“It feels terrific,” Lindo said on Good Morning America Friday. “I’m still processing, if I’m really honest, but it’s wonderful. And part of my response has to do with how positive everybody else’s response has been. A lot of support, a lot of love. It feels really good.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Lindo on Thursday for best supporting actor for his role as blues musician Delta Slim in the Ryan Coogler horror film Sinners.

Although Lindo has been acting for over five decades, he said playing Delta Slim didn’t come easy for him.

“The musical aspect — the piano, the keyboard and the harmonica — it’s a different side of the brain,” Lindo said about playing the musician. “So I would be at the keyboard practicing, and I had some incredible musicians who helped me, but I was aware — sometimes the mind and the fingers, they don’t line up well.”

Ahead of the Oscar nominations this week, Lindo said the buzz was hard to ignore but he tried to do so anyway.

“I was trying to maintain a certain distance, because I was not sure of what would happen,” Lindo said. “It’s difficult to not have it on your mind. But I was trying as much as I could to just let it be what it was going to be.”

Sinners received a record-breaking 16 nominations on Thursday, the most in Oscars history. Lindo said he “had no idea” the movie would resonate with audiences so much.

He added that he was in bed when he found out he had been nominated.

“My son called me. I was in bed,” Lindo recounted. “I was kind of halfway between being asleep and waking, and the phone rang, and I picked it up, and my son was on the other line, and it’s perfect that I got the news from him.”

“Ryan and I had a long talk, and in true Ryan fashion, he just wanted to talk about me,” Lindo said.

Coogler is nominated for several awards, including best director and best original screenplay, for Sinners.

Coogler, his wife, Zinzi Coogler, and frequent collaborator Sev Ohanian are also up for the best picture Oscar.

Lindo expressed his excitement for the director.

“I don’t have the words to articulate how thrilled I am for [Coogler], because from the very first time I read the script, I saw what he was trying to do, and it’s extraordinary that audiences have embraced it and embraced his vision,” he said.

Sinners was released in April 2025 and returned to theaters in the fall for Halloween. The movie is coming back to theaters again amid awards season, returning to select IMAX 70mm locations the weekend of Jan. 30, according to an IMAX spokesperson.

The 98th Academy Awards will be held March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards will be televised live on ABC and streamed live on Hulu beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

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