{"id":52593,"date":"2025-01-12T13:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T13:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/actor-djimon-hounsou-decries-financial-struggles-despite-oscar-nominations\/"},"modified":"2025-01-12T13:32:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T13:32:53","slug":"actor-djimon-hounsou-decries-financial-struggles-despite-oscar-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/actor-djimon-hounsou-decries-financial-struggles-despite-oscar-nominations\/","title":{"rendered":"Actor Djimon Hounsou decries financial struggles despite Oscar nominations, blockbuster roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a candid interview on CNN\u2019s ‘African Voices Changemakers’, the Beninese-born actor shared that he continues to find himself underpaid even after over two decades in the industry and being featured in multiple blockbuster films.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still struggling to make a living,\u201d Hounsou confessed. \u201cI\u2019ve been in this business making films now for over two decades with two Oscar nominations, been in many blockbuster films, and yet, I\u2019m still struggling financially. I\u2019m definitely underpaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n

Reflecting on his career, which includes standout roles in Ridley Scott\u2019s ‘Gladiator’, Steven Spielberg\u2019s ‘Amistad’, ‘Blood Diamond’, and ‘In America’, Hounsou expressed his frustration with the financial compensation he receives despite his critical acclaim. <\/p>\n

His performances in ‘In America’ and ‘Blood Diamond’ earned him Academy Award nominations, yet he claimed that financial recognition hasn\u2019t followed.<\/p>\n

Hounsou also addressed a painful memory from his ‘Amistad’ breakthrough in 1997, where he portrayed Cinqu\u00e9, the leader of a slave revolt. He alleged that his lack of an Oscar nomination at the time was influenced by racism and xenophobia. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was nominated for the 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I successfully did that [film], they just didn\u2019t feel like I was an actor to whom they should pay any respect. This conceptual idea of diversity still has a long way to go. Systemic racism don\u2019t change like that anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hounsou\u2019s journey to stardom began when he immigrated to Lyon, France, at age 12, after growing up in Cotonou, Benin. Homeless and struggling after dropping out of school, he was discovered by a photographer who introduced him to fashion designer Thierry Mugler. <\/p>\n

Hounsou then pursued modeling, becoming a prominent figure in the Paris fashion scene. His career later transitioned to acting with notable roles in ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ (1990) and ‘Stargate’ (1994).<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Hounsou has spoken about his financial struggles despite his success in other films like ‘A Quiet Place: Day One,’ ‘Gran Turismo,’ and ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods.’<\/p>\n

\"In<\/figure>\n

In a 2023 interview with ‘The Guardian’, he stated, \u201cI\u2019m still struggling to try to make a dollar! I\u2019ve come up in the business with some people who are absolutely well off and have very little of my accolades. So I feel cheated, tremendously cheated, in terms of finances and in terms of the workload as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hounsou opened up about difficult meetings with studio executives, saying: \u201cI\u2019ve gone to studios for meetings and they\u2019re like: \u2018Wow, we felt like you just got off the boat and then went back [after Amistad]. We didn\u2019t know you were here as a true actor.\u2019 When you hear things like that, you can see that some people\u2019s vision of you, or what you represent, is very limiting. But it is what it is. It\u2019s up to me to redeem that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Hounsou has a slate of upcoming thrillers, including the horror film ‘The Monster’ with director Darren Lynn Bousman, a shark movie titled ‘Beneath the Storm’ opposite Phoebe Dynevor, and a claustrophobic thriller called ‘The Zealot’ alongside Kodi Smit-McPhee.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou has revealed that, despite his extensive career in Hollywood and recognition for films big and small, he still faces financial struggles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000080112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-52593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000080112,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/newfile.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000080112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52593"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=52593"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=52593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}