In Hollywood, pay disparity is still a thing, according to popular actor Djimon Hounsou, known for films such as Ridley Scott's Gladiator, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Michael Bay's The Island, and James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy.
In an interview with CNN's African Voices Changemakers, Hounsou, an American actor hailing from Benin in West Africa, said he still struggles to make a living despite being an Oscar-nominated actor in the industry for over two decades. "I'm definitely underpaid," he added.
Hounsou, who got Oscar nominations for Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond — in which he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly — and In America, also alleged that he was unable to get an Oscar nomination for his performance in Amistad due to racial prejudice.
“I was nominated for the Golden Globe, but they ignored me for the Oscars, talking about how they thought I had just come off the boat and the streets. Even though I successfully did that [film], they didn’t 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 isn't going to change like that anytime soon,” he said.
Before becoming an actor, Hounsou worked modelling gigs and commercials and as a dancer in music videos. He got his first acting break when he cracked the audition for the role of the slave rebellion leader in Amistad in 1997. The actor played a slave two more times, in Gladiator and The Four Feathers.
Hounsou had previously expressed his frustration at the limited roles that Black actors like himself were getting offered and the unfair compensation in an interview with The Guardian in 2023.
“I’m still struggling to try to make a dollar! 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 the workload as well."
Hounsou recently starred in A Quiet Place: Day One, Gran Turismo and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
