Delroy Lindo Lands First Oscar Nomination at Age 73

Delroy Lindo has long been regarded as a Hollywood icon whose work has always been critically lauded but never awarded until now.

The London-born actor, 73, with a decades-spanning career has found his name mentioned in conversation during awards season before, but not when nominations were announced.

But with the 98th Academy Awards nominations announcement on Thursday, Lindo finally earned his first ever nod, in Best Supporting Actor, for his performance as Delta Slim in Ryan Coogler's vampire epic "Sinners".

The bid many would say is long overdue considering the previous snubs in his career.

As Lindo told Entertainment Weekly during an interview in April, while his name has been thrown into the Oscar conversation before for his turns in Spike Lee films "Malcolm X" (1992) and "Da 5 Bloods" (2020), he tried "not to buy into that."

"That may seem very pious," Lindo noted. "I try not to buy into that because, frankly, if Da 5 Bloods experience taught me anything, it's that no Academy Award nomination, no BAFTA nomination, no SAG nomination…There was another one. There were four of 'em that completely iced both the film and me…".

He refrained from sharing his "thoughts" on why Lee's project only netted a Best Original Score Oscar nomination despite being lauded by critics. "My point is, if so much of the press were saying, 'This guy's going to get nominated,' and it didn't happen, there's probably a reason for that," Lindo added.

That doesn't mean it wasn't a blow to the acclaimed actor. "I was profoundly disappointed, frankly," Lindo told EW.

He shared that he and Lee spoke over the phone the morning of the Oscar nominations on March 15, 2021. "He had just gotten off a plane, and he called me. Said, 'Man, I just heard.' We were commiserating," Lindo recalled. "Where we ended up was agreeing, no matter what, one must keep working. What am I going to do? Take my marbles and go home and get in the fetal position? No, I'm not going to do that."

Lindo continued: "I think I've done enough. I've done a wide range of work as an actor."

Five years later, Lindo cast a spell over viewers and Oscar voters as Delta Slim, a Mississippi harmonica and piano player tapped by twins Smoke and Stack (played by fellow first-time Oscar nominee Michael B. Jordan pulling double duty) to perform at the launch of their juke joint, which becomes the target of a group of vampires.

"To work with him and see what he brought every day, it's an incredible performance," Coogler remarked separately to EW.

That's a sentiment largely shared with critics and audiences alike, maintaining a 97 percent critical rating and 96 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Released in April, "Sinners" scored big box-office returns, especially for a non-sequel, non-adapted original story.

The film earned approximately $368 million globally, becoming one of the top-grossing movies of the year.

It has received numerous awards and nominations since awards season began, including seven nominations at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, 17 nominations at the 31st Critics Choice Awards, and a record 21 nominations at the 26th Annual Black Reel Awards.

"Sinners" was also selected as one of the top 10 films of the year by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.

The film received 16 Oscar nominations on Thursday, shattering the record to become the most-nominated movie in history.

"Sinners" surpassed prior record holders "La La Land" (2016), "Titanic" (1997), and the Hollywood classic "All About Eve" (1950), all of which earned 14 nods each.

Lindo hasn't spoken on his nomination as the time of publication, but it's reasonable to believe that the actor still feels as "f---ing fortunate" as he did when EW spoke to him last year.

"I'll tell you something," he said at the time. "To have been working as an actor for the length of time that I have been working — and certainly to have been through ups and downs in my career — the fact that one is still working, the fact that audiences still apparently find what I'm doing interesting, worthy of watching, that's not a given. So that's what it comes out of, that I don't take any of it for granted."

The 2026 Oscars, hosted by returning comedian Conan O'Brien, air Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC.