It’s About Freaking Time Delroy Lindo Got an Oscar Nomination

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Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) has a worried look on his face in Sinners.

Published Jan 31, 2026, 7:00 PM EST

Thomas Butt is a senior writer. An avid film connoisseur, Thomas actively logs his film consumption on Letterboxd and vows to connect with many more cinephiles through the platform. He is immensely passionate about the work of Martin Scorsese, John Ford, and Albert Brooks. His work can be read on Collider and Taste of Cinema. He also writes for his own blog, The Empty Theater, on Substack. He is also a big fan of courtroom dramas and DVD commentary tracks. For Thomas, movie theaters are a second home. A native of Wakefield, MA, he is often found scrolling through the scheduled programming on Turner Classic Movies and making more room for his physical media collection. Thomas habitually increases his watchlist and jumps down a YouTube rabbit hole of archived interviews with directors and actors. He is inspired to write about film to uphold the medium's artistic value and to express his undying love for the art form. Thomas looks to cinema as an outlet to better understand the world, human emotions, and himself.

Throughout this year's awards campaign, which feels longer than ever before, one of the dark horse contenders for Best Supporting Actor was everyone's dream wish. However, after being rudely snubbed for his remarkable turn in Da 5 Bloods in 2020, Delroy Lindo seemed cursed from ever receiving an Oscar nomination, despite being one of the most respected and unsung actors of his era. At this year's announcement ceremony, the film community's wish fulfillment came true, as Lindo was a welcoming surprise entry for Best Supporting Actor for his scene-stealing performance in Sinners. Lindo, who pushed out a presumed nominee in Paul Mescal for Hamnet, was long overdue for Academy recognition. Anyone who's seen him in a handful of Spike Lee joints and '90s hits like Ransom and Get Shorty knows just how special he is. Make no mistake, though, his Sinners nomination is no makeup nod, as he is the heart and soul of one of 2025's signature films.

Delroy Lindo is the Heart of 'Sinners'

A vampire-hunting horror-thriller starring Michael B. Jordan as twin bootleggers being a fringe awards contender seemed unlikely. This movie earning upwards of 10 Oscar nominations seemed far-fetched, and the movie breaking the record for most nominations with 16 nods seemed unfathomable one year ago. Ryan Coogler's blockbuster sensation was the rare crossover movie in today's fractured cultural landscape, appealing to mass audiences, critics, and awards voters. Sinners is widely revered among all branches of the Academy, including the actor's body, who nominated Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and the overdue Delroy Lindo, who plays Delta Slim, an old town harmonica player and musical legend recruited by Smoke and Stack (Jordan) to perform at their juke joint in Mississippi.

Without Lindo's incredible gravitas, which oozes with remorse, heartfelt personal reflection, and the struggles of the Black community and their ownership of art, Sinners might not have become the Oscar juggernaut that it is today. It crystallized to voters, especially older ones more skeptical about honoring genre movies, that this wasn't just a riff on From Dusk Till Dawn, but rather, a soulful treatise on empowerment through music. Delta Slim's music is more than just a form of expression; it's a state of being. Lindo's pathos and connection to the enduring struggles of Black autonomy ground the film, even at its most grisly and blood-soaked. He also proved to be a creative collaborator on Sinners, as his improvisations helped flesh out Delta Slim, who had a more reduced role in the script.

Delroy Lindo's Unforgettable Work With Spike Lee

Delroy Lindo cemented himself as a true marvel of screen acting with his recurring collaborations with Spike Lee, which culminated in his awe-inspiring central performance in Da 5 Bloods, a film that will only grow in critical estimation with age. Filled with undeniable charm and haunting rage, Lindo's turn as a war-torn and emotionally distraught Vietnam War veteran in search of lost treasure is seamlessly epic. The first act of Malcolm X, with Denzel Washington as the titular character before becoming the prodigious civil rights leader, is the Delroy Lindo show. As the local gangster West Indian Archie, he miraculously makes Washington, who gives arguably the most seismic performance in film history, feel small, and lures Malcolm Little into a world of petty thefts.

Lee had so much reverence and faith in Lindo that he cast him in his semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama, Crooklyn, to play the avatar of the director's father. Here, Lindo offers a warmer side to his unflinching screen persona without undermining his stern paternal presence. In all his performances, he beautifully conveys overarching themes within a respective film, doing most of the heavy lifting for the director. In Crooklyn, Lindo's Woody Carmichael confronts his self-imposed hypocrisy of raising a family and pursuing his solo artistic career. Lindo's earth-shattering poise comes into full force in Lee's Clockers, a film with the shapings of a '90s "hood" crime drama but carried with the soul of a Shakespearean tragedy. His character, the drug boss Rodney Little, should be clouded in stereotypes, but Lindo brilliantly infuses his tough but loving paternal control from Crooklyn with the charming menace of Malcolm X.

Even when he's not working with a seminal auteur like Spike Lee, Delroy Lindo elevates movies from being a basic programmer to a certified classic. Despite being surrounded by a stacked cast, he walks away with Get Shorty and Ransom, vestiges of a bygone era of mid-budget Hollywood. No matter the material, Lindo effortlessly makes everything feel totemic. Rewarding him with an Oscar nomination is the least we could do for him.

Sinners is available to stream on HBO Max and Prime Video in the U.S.