Actor Djimon Hounsou has definitely come a long way in his life. However, his journey has not been a bed of roses.
While speaking to The Guardian, Djimon, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002 for `In America` and then again in 2006 for `Blood Diamond`, said he “felt seriously cheated,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
“Today, we talk so much about the Oscars being so white, but I remember there was a time where I had no support at all: no support from my own people, no support from the media, from the industry itself,” he confessed.
“It felt like: `You should be happy that you`ve got nominated,` and that`s that,” he added.
Hounsou started to make his name in Hollywood when he landed a role in Steven Spielberg`s 1997 film `Amistad`. But he explained that he started to grow frustrated with the limited parts that were being offered to Black actors.
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To this day, he said he`s “still struggling to try to make a dollar” in the industry. He continued, “I`ve 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.”
Since his Oscar-nominated films, the majority of the roles Hounsou has played include smaller and bit parts in movies like `Guardians of the Galaxy`, `Furious 7`, `Charlie`s Angels` and a handful of projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe.
“I`ve gone to studios for meetings and they`re like: `Wow, we felt like you just got off the boat and then went back [after Amistad]. We didn`t know you were here as a true actor,`” he said. “When you hear things like that, you can see that some people`s vision of you, or what you represent, is very limiting. But it is what it is. It`s up to me to redeem that.”
Hounsou is now back in theatres as a wizard in Warner Bros.` `Shazam! Fury of the Gods`.
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