Djimon Hounsou has dozens of award-winning movies and two Oscar nominations below his belt, however the actor says he nonetheless struggles financially and is “undoubtedly underpaid.”
In a brand new interview with CNN printed on Friday, January 10, the Beninese-born actor, 60, stated he doesn’t really feel he has been compensated pretty for his work and nonetheless faces systemic racism within the trade.
“I’m nonetheless struggling attempting to make a dwelling,” Hounsou, who earned Oscar nominations for In America (2002) and Blood Diamond (2006), instructed Larry Madowo. “I’ve been on this enterprise making movies now for over 20 years with two Oscar nominations, been in lots of blockbuster movies, and but, I’m nonetheless struggling financially. I’m undoubtedly underpaid.”
Hounsou, whose best-known performances embody Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000), Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997)and The Quiet Place franchise, went on to debate racism in Hollywood.
“I used to be nominated for the Golden Globe [for Amistad], however they ignored me for the Oscars, speaking about the truth that they thought that I had simply got here off the boat and off the streets,” Hounsou acknowledged within the CNN interview. “Though I efficiently did that [film], they only didn’t really feel like I used to be an actor for whom they need to pay any respect. This conceptual thought of range nonetheless has an extended technique to go. Systemic racism don’t change like that anytime quickly.”
Hounsou — who shares 15-year-old son Kenzo with ex Kimora Lee Simmons and 2-year-old son Fela with associate Ri’Za — has been open about his profession struggles in earlier interviews. In a 2023 sit-down with The Guardian, Hounsou stated he “felt significantly cheated” after his Blood Diamond costar Leonardo DiCaprio obtained the most effective actor nod whereas he was left within the supporting actor class regardless of the film specializing in his character’s journey.
“As we speak, we speak a lot in regards to the Oscars being so white, however I bear in mind there was a time the place I had no help in any respect: no help from my very own individuals, no help from the media, from the trade itself. It felt like: ‘You ought to be comfortable that you just’ve obtained nominated,’ and that’s that.”
Djimon Hounsou Clay Enos/Netflix
He continued: “I’m nonetheless struggling to attempt to make a greenback! I’ve come up within the enterprise with some people who find themselves completely effectively off and have little or no of my accolades. So I really feel cheated, tremendously cheated, by way of funds and by way of the workload as effectively.”
“I nonetheless need to show why I have to receives a commission,” he added later within the interview. “They all the time come at me with a whole low ball: ‘We solely have this a lot for the position, however we love you a lot and we actually assume you possibly can carry a lot.’”
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In 2025, he’s set to star in Beneath the Storm alongside Phoebe Dynevor and The Zealot with Kodi Smit-McPhee after making appearances in just a few DC and Marvel movies. Nonetheless, Hounsou insisted to The Guardian that studios assumed he “went again” to Africa after Amistad and wasn’t “a real actor.”
“While you hear issues like that, you possibly can see that some individuals’s imaginative and prescient of you, or what you characterize, may be very limiting,” he stated. “However it’s what it’s. It’s as much as me to redeem that.”
