Jordan Peele is known today to many primarily as the director of horror films. However, he previously had a career as an actor and writer in comedy formats. A rather bad animated film made him rethink.
Nowadays, when people hear the name Jordan Peele, they probably think of one of his horror films. In particular, Get Out, Peele’s directorial debut from 2017, can already be considered a modern classic of the genre and has a loyal fan base – even for scaredy-cats, the film is suitable.
The exciting mix of horror film and black comedy with social commentary surprised not only due to its high quality upon release but also because few people believed the comedy talent Jordan Peele could shine so brightly in the horror genre.
However, he revealed what the exact reason for his exit from the comedy world and acting was. The answer: A rather terrible animated film and a role that seemed far too demoralizing.
An Emoji leads to rethinking
What does Jordan Peele tell? During the DGA Awards, an award for directing, Peele reported, according to Vanity Fair, how he came to direct his own horror film. Previously, he was still working in comedy and was offered a very special voice acting role one day.
He was to voice the character Poop in Emoji – The Movie. This animated film, released in 2017, featured various well-known emojis as main characters in a colorful story. The film was poorly received and earned a meager 6% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 132 reviews. Audiences rated it slightly better, with over 25,000 users giving it a score of 36%.
Therefore, the film truly does not represent a highlight in animated cinema. However, even before it hit theaters, it plunged Jordan Peele into an identity crisis. He was offered the role of the poop emoji – a circumstance that made him question his entire acting career:
The Emoji Movie actually helped me quit acting […] That’s true. I wouldn’t make that up.
Jordan Peele (Source: Vanity Fair)
He took a day to decide whether he should accept the role. When he finally called his manager to find out what the salary was, he was told that Peele was already too late. The role of the poop emoji had already been given to someone else. That someone else was none other than the acting legend Sir Patrick Stewart.
That was the point at which Peele had enough. He decided to quit acting and direct his own dark horror film. The result was Get Out, and genre fans can be grateful that the Emoji Movie pushed the director to that decision.
Get Out has an excellent score on Rotten Tomatoes. 403 reviews gave the film a score of 98%, and over 50,000 users rated it 86%. As a result, the horror film is among the best in its genre.
And Jordan Peele directed two more horror films, Us and Nope. Occasionally, despite his earlier decision, he can still be heard and seen as a voice actor or actor, such as in Big Mouth. He is also involved in the next project of legendary developer Hideo Kojima, which is already generating anticipation: Players mourn a horror game that never came out for 11 years, but a trailer is now fueling new hope
