Oscar-nominated Marvel star Djimon Hounsou says he’s ‘struggling to make a living’

Actor said he is ‘definitely underpaid’ despite appearing in slew of high-budget projects

Djimon Hounsou, the Oscar-nominated star of Blood Diamond and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, has said he is still “struggling” financially despite his acclaimed career.

The Beninese-born American actor, 60, is also known for roles in Gladiator and Steven Spielberg’s Amistad – but revealed that he is still poorly paid compared to many of his peers.

Hounsou was twice nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, the first time for the 2002 immigration drama In America, and the second for his role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the Sierra Leone-set thriller Blood Diamond.

Speaking to CNN’s African Voices Changemakers, Hounsou said: “I’m still struggling to make a living.

“I’ve been in this business making films now for over two decades with two Oscar nominations, been in many blockbuster films, and yet, I’m still struggling financially. I’m definitely underpaid.”

In Amistad, Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated drama, Hounsou played Cinqué, the leader of a slave revolt. In the new interview, Hounsou claimed that he was overlooked by the Oscars at the time due to xenophobia and racist.

“I was nominated for the Golden Globe, but they ignored me for the Oscars, talking about the fact that they thought that I had just came off the boat and off the streets,” he said.

Actor Djimon Hounsou, photographed in 2024 (Getty Images)

“Even though I successfully did that [film], they just 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 don’t change like that anytime soon.”

Hounsou, who has also appeared in recent blockbusters such as A Quiet Place: Day One, Gran Turismo and Shazam! Fury of the Gods previously spoke to The Guardian about his precarious financial situation.

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“I’m “yet to meet the film that paid me fairly,” he told the outlet 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 in terms of the workload as well.

“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.’ 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.”