Hollywood actor Daniel Kaluuya after receiving his Oscar

STUDENTS at the former school of Daniel Kaluuya – the inspirational north Londoner who won an Oscar on Sunday – have written letters congratulating him on the award.

The 32-year-old had been a pupil for five years at St Aloysius Secondary School in Highgate Hill, Archway, before following his dream of becoming an actor.

His hard work paid off when he was named the best supporting actor at the Academy Awards ceremony, putting him among the all-time movie greats and the first black British man to win in this category.

He had starred as Fred Hampton, the real-life former chairman of the Black Panthers in Chicago, in Judas And The Black Messiah.

Former teachers described Mr Kaluuya, who had previously won a rising star Bafta after his performance in the horror film Get Out, as joyful and cheerful as a boy.

St Aloysius School

Geraldine Rimmer, his history teacher during his time at St Aloysius, said: “He was lively, bouncing from room to room – friendly with lots of energy.”

Languages teacher Diego Gaye, who taught Mr Kaluuya French, joked: “He promised he would be back when he was rich and famous and I’m still waiting for him.”

Some students wrote letters to Mr Kaluuya. One said: “Knowing that a former student of our school and a fellow young black man is capable of achieving an award like an Oscar certainly has an inspiring effect on me trying to reach the peak of my abilities. It’s honestly amazing to think a person who wore the same uniform as me can go so far that he claims the same award Brad Pitt did.”

When he won the Bafta in 2018, the actor name-checked the acting club Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington and flagged the importance of “grassroots” funding in his acceptance speech.

Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah

St Aloysius pupil Stephane said in his letter to Mr Kaluuya: “As a young black male, it has provided me with the belief that the sky’s the limit and if you put your mind to something you can succeed. Thinking we both went to the same St Aloysius fields and went to the same areas is a big inspiration knowing we have many similarities.”

Another added: “Daniel’s success shows that we are capable of doing anything that we want if we commit to it, so the only thing stopping us is ourselves. It proves to us that we can be whoever and whatever we want to be.”

Mr Kaluuya grew up on a council estate in Camden and has previously talked about how his family did not have much money. “I was into acting,” he once told the British Blacklist. “If I failed, what did I have to lose? I couldn’t have been any poorer – I was eating McDonald’s sauces.”

He went on to appear in the hit youth drama Skins, but still found himself bringing legal action against the Met when he was wrongly suspected of being a drug dealer in 2012. He alleged he had been “racially stereotyped”. His acting career, however, went from strength to strength, with more and more high-profile film roles.

Whenever possible, he always thanked his parents, particularly his mother – although on Sunday he joked she may not have appreciated all of his words. “Let’s celebrate life,” he said. “We’re breathing. We’re walking. It’s incredible. My mum met my dad. They had sex. It’s amazing.”