Oscar-nominated British actor Daniel Kaluuya made his debut appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, kicking things off with a monologue that referenced Meghan Markle’s recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“I can’t believe it’s Saturday Night Live in New York City,” he began. “My name is Daniel Kaluuya. And first of all, I know you’re hearing my accent and thinking, ‘oh no, he’s not Black, he’s British’.
“Let me reassure you that I am Black. I’m Black, and I’m British. Basically, I’m what the Royal Family was worried the baby would look like.”
Daniel was referring to the Duchess of Sussex’s claims that an undisclosed member of the Royal Family had expressed racist concerns to Prince Harry about the colour of their son Archie’s skin during her pregnancy.
He continued: “People ask me, ‘what’s worse: British racism or American racism?’. Let me put it his way, British racism is so bad white people left.
“They wanted to be free – free to create their own kind of racisms, so that’s why they invented Australia, South Africa… and Boston.”
Later in the monologue, Daniel referenced the technical difficulties that blighted his winning moment at the Golden Globes earlier in the year.
He explained: “I actually won a Golden Globe for that role [in Judas And The Black Messiah]. But wait, wait, wait. It was on Zoom. And this is what happened.
“I was muted! Can you believe that?! I told the best joke of my life and I was muted! I felt like I was in the Sunken Place!”
Daniel ended his monologue by revealing that one of his inspirations to get into acting was the 90s sitcom Kenan And Kel, expressing his excitement at sharing the stage with SNL cast member Kenan Thompson.
“I just want to take this moment, in front of Kenan and the whole world to say thank you mum, thank you God and thank you Kel,” he said.
During the episode, Daniel appeared in a number of comedy sketches, including one about prolific YouTubers’ “apology videos”, one about the Covid-19 vaccine and another in which he plays a fraternity member.
Watch the monologue in full below: