With Sinners earning Delroy Lindo his first Academy Award nomination, the British-American actor is finally getting the recognition he deserves for big-screen roles. The Ryan Coogler folk horror bagged 16 Oscar nominations, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Lindo. He’s contending for the coveted gong against Benicio del Toro, Jacob Elordi, Sean Penn, and Stellan Skarsgård.
While Del Toro and Penn were nominated for their roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Elordi and Skarsgård secured nominations for their performances in Frankenstein and Sentimental Value, respectively. Whatever happens, the nomination acknowledges the brilliance of Delroy Lindo’s decades-long career. But before Sinners, he had delivered several Oscar-worthy performances across varied genres.
West Indian Archie In Malcolm X (1992)
The Spike Lee docudrama stars Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett alongside Delroy Lindo, who played West Indian Archie. The biographical epic captures the complex life of famous black nationalist leader, Malcolm X. With Washington as the title character, Lindo’s performance as a Harlem gangster who mentored Malcolm strengthened the movie’s appeal.
While Washington received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Lindo was snubbed, to the disappointment of critics who believed his role deserved an Academy Award recognition. Nevertheless, he was nominated for other awards, including the National Society of Film Critics’ Best Supporting Actor. The role also earned Lindo a nod from the NAACP (Image Awards). He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.
Bo Catlett In Get Shorty (1995)
As Bo Catlett opposite John Travolta, Gene Hackman, and Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo delivered another Oscar-worthy performance in Barry Sonnenfeld’s dark comedy, Get Shorty. The movie follows Travolta’s Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark on a mission to collect a debt in Hollywood. The dark comedy received numerous nominations for coveted awards, except for the Oscars.
The Academy Awards snubbed the entire Get Shorty cast, including Travolta, who won the Golden Globes’ Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, alongside the American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role). For his performance, Lindo received the National Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for the Actors Awards’ Outstanding Performance by a Cast.
Arthur Rose In The Cider House Rules (1999)
Lasse Hallström’s adaptation of John Irving’s 1985 eponymous novel stars Delroy Lindo as Arthur Rose, in a story revolving around Tobey Maguire’s Homer Wells, an orphan seeking freedom to find his place in life. Lindo’s on-screen interaction with the lead character resonated with critics, who rewarded the actor with nominations for Best Supporting Actor. The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards and the Black Reel Awards nominated him for that category.
Although his performance didn’t draw the Oscars’ attention, the period drama was nominated for seven Academy Awards. They include Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, which Michael Caine and John Irving won, respectively. Alongside other cast members of the film, Lindo was also nominated for the Actors Awards’ Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture.
Paul In Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Also directed by Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods stars Delroy Lindo alongside Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, and Norm Lewis in a jungle adventure revolving around four Vietnam War veterans. With Lindo’s Paul as the lead character, the war drama follows the quartet’s quest to find the remains of their squad leader and the gold he hid for them. Paul’s performance earned him widespread acclaim, with critics putting his name forward for Oscar consideration.
Oscars snubbed Lindo again, leaving him unwilling to entertain thoughts about receiving the coveted recognition in subsequent projects. “I try not to buy into that,” he told Entertainment Weekly in April 2025. “If Da 5 Bloods experience taught me anything, it’s that no Academy Award nomination, no BAFTA nomination, no SAG nomination… There were four of them that completely iced both the film and me,” he said.
Lee also expressed his disappointment over Lindo’s absence among those nominated for Best Actor. “Delroy Lindo may not have received an Oscar nomination yesterday, but that does not take away from the impact of his work that spans decades. From his roles in ‘Da 5 Bloods’ to ‘Crooklyn,’ ‘Clockers’ & much more, we continue to recognize and celebrate his career,” the director wrote on Instagram. Check out the 7 roles that defined Diane Ladd’s Hollywood legacy.
