Featured Image Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty Images/Universal Pictures
Topics: Film and TV, Hollywood, Racism, Money
Callum Jones
Topics: Film and TV, Hollywood, Racism, Money
Djimon Hounsou has admitted he's 'still struggling to make a living' despite working in Hollywood for decades.
From the outside looking in, many of us can picture a luxurious lifestyle full of fancy cars and swanky meals for those working in Hollywood.
And while that seems to be the case for some of the biggest actors out there, Hounsou has revealed the reality of working in Hollywood as a person of color.
The actor has starred in such movies as Blood Diamond and Gladiator over the years, which you'd think would have made him a ton of money.
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However, discussing his career on a recent episode of CNN’s African Voices Changemakers, the 60-year-old revealed that he is underpaid.
He said: "I’m still struggling to make a living. I’ve been in the filmmaking business for over two decades with two Oscar nominations and many blockbuster films, and yet, I’m still struggling financially. I’m definitely underpaid."
On top of that, the actor feels he has missed out on awards and nominations, particularly by the Academy Awards for his role in Steven Spielberg's 1997 drama Amistad where he starred as Cinqué.
"I was nominated for the Golden Globe, but they ignored me for the Oscars because they thought that I had just come off the boat and the streets," Hounsou went on to say.
"Even though I successfully did that, they just didn’t feel like I was an actor to whom they should pay any respect."
Hounsou is certainly not afraid to speak out about pay in Hollywood, after telling the Guardian in March 2023 he had 'yet to meet the film that paid me fairly'.
He said: "I still have to prove why I need to get paid. They always come at me with a complete low ball: 'We only have this much for the role, but we love you so much and we really think you can bring so much'.
"Viola Davis said it beautifully. She's won an Oscar, she's won an Emmy, she's won a Tony and she still can't get paid."
Speaking further on CNN's African Voices Changemakers, Hounsou added: "As I was doing research for the film, I became profoundly aware of the disconnect between Afro-descendants from their roots and culture.
"Because when you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know who you are."