Djimon Hounsou, an actor who has appeared in multiple Marvel and DC films, as well as starring in Gladiator and receiving two Oscar nominations, has made a stark admission in which he has admitted to ‘struggling to afford to live’.
Hounsou spoke out in an interview with CNN in which he alleged he had been underpaid for years, and discussed the effect systemic racism has had on his career.
The actor is perhaps best known for playing Juba in Gladiator, but he has also received Oscar nominations for his roles in In America and Blood Diamond.
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Add to that roles in blockbusters such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, Shazam, Black Adam, A Quite Place Part II and Fast and Furious 7, and Hounsou has a prolific and varied career.
This makes his admission all the more shocking.
In an interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo, he said he felt that African representation had changed massively since his career began.
He said: “When I came out with Amistad, I was nominated for a Golden Globe, but they ignored me for the Oscars, talking about the fact that they thought that I had just came off the boat and off the streets where Steven Spielberg used me for this film.”
Hounsou claimed he felt he didn’t garner the respect you’d expect from a film like Amistad, one of his earliest roles.
The 60-year-old went on to say: “This conceptual idea of diversity and all that, it still has a long way to go. Systemic racism don’t change like that anytime soon.
“After 30 years, let’s say maybe the first 10 years was really trying to acclimate myself to the industry.
“I’ve been in this business and making films now over two decades, and still, with two nominations, Oscar nominations, been in many big blockbuster films and yet I’m still struggling financially to make a living.
“I’m definitely underpaid.”
Madowo responded, calling it ‘mind-boggling’ that ‘one of the first big Black actors’ he saw in big-budget films growing up was struggling to make ends meet.
The Gladiator actor went on to reply: “That’s a sign for you that systemic racism is not something that you can deal with lightly.
“It’s so deep inserted in so many things that we do across the board and you don’t overcome it.”
He went on to speak with hope of his efforts since he came to Hollywood however, saying: “I came to California with this compelling need to do something for my continent and do something for my people in general and to champion this idea of reconciliation and reconnection with the motherland.
“I just hope that I have contributed to change the narrative about our people and the continent.”
Hounsou was born in Benin and has spoken about how when he was a boy he had to hunt for ‘five empty Omo detergent sacks’ in order to get a free cinema ticket.
In an interview with The Guardian, he said: “I remember vividly: sometimes you would be in the back of the theatre and you couldn’t see the screen.
“But you could hear it. These were cowboy films coming from America and all you could hear were the shoes and the spurs.
“The sounds were like a dagger; it really pierced your inspiration.”
He then immigrated to America via France, saying: “The dream was just so big that I went all the way to America and forgot that I didn’t speak English.”
Topics: Oscars, Marvel, Film, TV and Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin