Djimon Hounsou American actor has lamented that he’s still struggling to make dollars for himself in an interview Guardian.
“I’m still struggling to try to make a dollar!” the Beninese-American actor told the Guardian. “I’ve come up in the business with some people who are well off and have very little of my accolades. So I feel cheated, tremendously cheated, in terms of finances and terms of the workload as well.”
The Hollywood actor 30 years ago paid his dues by watching one of his selected ones that’s the Sandra Bernhard-led comedy Without You I’m Nothing. Since then, the 58-year-old has appeared in several prestigious and critically acclaimed projects, including Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, and Edward Zwicks’ Blood Diamond, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod at the 79th Academy Awards.
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],” he explained. We didn’t know you were here as a true actor.’ 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.”
Djimon is not an exception of stars who have appeared in popular TV shows, and movies and still struggle to get put food on the table for their family. The iconic actor talks about getting 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 think you can bring so much’… Film after film, it’s a struggle,” he explained. “I have yet to meet the film that paid me fairly”, He said.
It’s believed that Hollywood has a long way to go in terms of fairy lights payment agreements with their stars and representative.
Talking about improvement so far in his career, the actor throw some light on his features in the Shazam franchise movie which he said it been a lot of improvement after that project, He acknowledge.
“Out of them all, the DC universe has a level of respect,” says Honsou, who plays The Wizard. “There wasn’t much to the role at first and I did it and it was fun. But the second time around it was a little more respectful.”
He continued: “From time to time, they make the point of saying: ‘We should give him more, he’s a little underappreciated.’ I think they recognize that themselves. Hey, it’s the struggle I have to overcome!”
Hounsou told ‘The Guardian” that he felt “seriously cheated” and bereft of industry and media support, as well as that of his “own people,” some of whom have yet to regard him as “a true actor.” He also spoke about being lowballed for acting roles and being forced to “prove why I need to get paid,”
On the other hand, Hounson has also noticed improvements in the way that he’s valued in the industry.