The US
Actor is starring as a black Trump supporter in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. He talks about the
racism he endured in
Britain – and why the George Floyd
protests are a sign of hope
Delroy Lindo has waited 25 years to work with Spike Lee again and Da 5 Bloods gives him one of the best roles of his career. But when he first read the script, the actor had a few questions about his character. Chiefly: “Does he have to be a Trump supporter?”
He says: “I remember saying to Spike, ‘I’ve got a 17-year-old son, man. I don’t want him seeing me representing this person.’” Like Lee, who routinely refers to
Donald Trump as Agent Orange, Lindo can barely bring himself to identify the president by name. “It had to do with my values, as a parent and as a being on the planet, feeling that I would be representing an individual who is ... I don’t have the words to discuss this individual.” Couldn’t the character, he pleaded, just be an arch-conservative? “Spike thought about it for a few days, then said, ‘Yeah, I really need him to be a Trump supporter.’”