Ever since Sinners came out, we haven’t been able to stop gushing about Delroy Lindo’s scene-stealing performance as Delta Slim. So, we’ve been over the moon since the 2026 Oscar nominations came out and Lindo earned his first Academy Award nod in the Best Supporting Actor category. In honor of Lindo, you have to check out this story from Michael B. Jordan about working alongside him.
Delroy Lindo is a beloved actor who famously has worked extensively with Spike Lee on films like Malcolm X and Crooklyn. Check out what Jordan had to say about his experience working alongside him:
It’s my first day, I’m anxious, I’m doing it, got this Southern dialect, you know what I mean? You know, full costume, it’s hot as hell down in the South. Oh, it was cooking! It was hot. You know, we’ve got Delroy, he ain’t saying too much, right? I’m like ‘Oh man, he ain’t talking too much.’ Sometimes you don’t know how another actor is going to show up. Is he going completely in character? Is he going to, after cut, is he going to be laughing? Is he going to be talking? So, I wasn’t quite sure.
During an interview with BBC Radio 2, Jordan recalled his first day on set, where he was sharing scenes with Lindo. He recalled being “anxious”, especially about whether he and the actor would hit it off. Here’s what happened next, per his words:
So, you know, we’re in the car, and he had his voice, he came out with that deep, Southern bass in his voice, and his tooth thing, he was kind of looking and he had his flask. And he was kind of looking at me. I started talking to him, like regular. He kind of gave me that stuff back, and I was like ‘Oh yeah, this is what it’s going to be right now. Alright, cool, let me step my stuff up.’
Lindo decided to go fully into the character of Delta Slim, and it sounds like Jordan was really woken up by it! Here’s how he finished the anecdote:
He’s an actor that definitely always brings it and has such a presence. He was the first check-in for me on this movie to be like, ‘Hey, this is what we’re bringing every day. So, let’s be ready.’ And Delroy was that for me.
Delroy Lindo’s first Oscar nomination comes at the age of 73 after 50 years as a professional actor. He shares the nomination with Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn for One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein and Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value.
Per E! News, Lindo was informed of the nomination by his son via a phone call. He said getting the news from his son meant “the world” because “he’s seen it all” throughout his career. Lindo signed on to Sinners after Ryan Coogler reached out to him and sent him the script. In an interview with Deadline, the actor said he “read it and pretty much agreed to do it right then.”
Obviously, Jordan brought it just as much as Lindo did, especially considering the actor plays two roles in Sinners, twins that go by Smoke and Stack. Ultimately, he was also nominated for his first Oscar this week in the Best Actor category.
While Jordan has been an Oscar frontrunner throughout awards season, Lindo’s nomination was a bit of a nice surprise after he was snubbed for other awards shows like the Golden Globes. Additionally, Sinners was nominated for an overall 16 awards at the 98th Academy Awards, breaking the record for the most nominated movie in the show’s history.
Along with Jordan and Lindo’s nominations, the movie is competing for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay, Casting, Best Supporting Actress (for Wunmi Mosaku), Production Design, Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Original Song, Original Score, Costume Design and Makeup and Hairstyling. Which proves that like the two actors in this story, the whole team behind Sinners brought their A-game.
The 98th Academy Awards will air live on ABC and Hulu on Sunday, March 15. Meanwhile, you can see Jordan and Lindo in Sinners by streaming the movie with an HBO Max subscription.
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