The actor was on a tour to promote his latest movie “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” In an interview with The Guardian Djimon shared his experiences in the Hollywood industry and expressed that even though he has worked in a lot of hit movies he still does not get the respect he deserves and how difficult it is for him to get good roles and contracts.
Djimon talked about his past remembering how he would go on the hunt for empty Omo detergent packs with his friends. He said collecting five packs would get him a free ticket to the local cinema and that he would go look for the packs in the rubbish bins, asking family, and knocking on the doors of the neighbors.
Hounsou’s dream of becoming an actor started by watching cowboy movies in the theater. He was so inspired by those movies that he went to America to fulfill his dream even though he did not speak English. While he fulfilled his dream of becoming an actor he still faces many difficulties in the Hollywood industry.
In the interview with The Guardian he shared, “I still have to prove why I need to get paid,” he added, “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.”
Honsou’s performance in Blood Diamond earned him a best-supporting actor nomination, while Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for the best actor award. His performance in Amistad was ignored and his co-star Anthony Hopkins was nominated for an award.
He said that he feels “cheated,” the actor continued, “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. It felt like: ‘You should be happy that you’ve got nominated,’ and that’s that.”
He was also disappointed that he was only able to play the role of a slave in three different movies in just five years, even though his performances had begun to get more attention.
“I’m still struggling to try to make a dollar!” Djimon said. “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.”
While talking about the movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods and the DC universe, he said that he has received the highest level of respect from the studio.
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