Winston Duke makes imposing men approachable through humour that never sounds as though he is asking for a laugh. We rate his easy company, especially in Us, and would welcome more parts that give him comparable room.
Fi1m perspective
Winston Duke plants his feet apart and opens his arms, looking as though he expects to be listened to. Then comes the joke. His size makes authority easy to suggest, but his timing keeps that authority from becoming forbidding. We like him most when the humour gives us a reason to care about the man. In Us (2019), that means letting a father be amusing company before asking us to fear for his family.
Black Panther (2018) made M'Baku his breakthrough role, allowing authority and irreverence to sit comfortably together. The lead role of Will in the metaphysical drama Nine Days (2021) offered a move beyond supporting work. He returned as M'Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), again supplying humour within an ensemble. The risk is that films settle for his size and a few good lines when he has already shown how useful he can be to the people around him.
As Gabe Wilson in Jordan Peele's film, opposite Lupita Nyong'o, Duke is funny enough to make the family worth spending time with before their predicament takes over. We laughed, then went straight back to worrying about them, because his ease makes the danger feel like an interruption to lives we recognise. Editor Nicholas Monsour keeps the shifts from comedy to danger clear even when they are abrupt. Michael Abels's score maintains the unease beneath the jokes, and Duke's performance benefits from both decisions. The film's explanations are less persuasive, but the family gives us a reason to stay with it.
In David Leitch's The Fall Guy (2024), his stunt coordinator Dan Tucker sounds as though he has heard every observation about film-making before. Duke delivers the good lines without pressing us to notice that they are the good lines. The film is worth an evening for its company, though the needlessly complicated mystery keeps that company occupied for too long. He cannot fix the plot, and we would not recommend choosing it for him alone. For Duke with more to do, start with Us, provided the household is willing to be frightened.
Biography
Winston Duke is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian actor. He was born on 15 November 1986 in Argyle, Tobago, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, at the age of nine. He holds a BA from the University at Buffalo and an MFA from Yale University.
Duke began his career in theatre and with recurring television roles in Person of Interest (2014–2015) and Modern Family (2016). He gained prominence as M'Baku in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Other credits include Us (2019), Spenser Confidential (2020) and The Fall Guy (2024), in which he played Dan Tucker. He became a naturalised citizen of Rwanda in 2023.
