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Djimon Hounsou: “I have yet to meet the film that paid me fairly…I feel cheated”

Edmond Dantès

Edmond Dantès

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Djimon Hounsou's acting career spans 30-plus years, includes two Oscar nominations and roles in myriad prestige and blockbuster projects such as Amistad, Gladiator, In America, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, Blood Diamond, Guardians of the Galaxy, Furious 7, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Shazam!, A Quiet Pace Part II and Day One, Black Adam, Rebel Moon and this weekend's Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Yet Hounsou told the Guardian in a recent interview, "I have yet to meet the film that paid me fairly."
He elaborated: "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."

Specifically, the actor says, "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."

As a result, Hounsou maintains, "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.' "

And it's not just him. Even actors who've broken through at the Oscars find equal pay elusive, Hounsou notes.

"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. [Davis won a Grammy in February for EGOT status.] Film after film, it's a struggle. I have yet to meet the film that paid me fairly."

The actor says his experience with the Shazam! franchise has been a bit different.

"Out of them all, the DC universe has a level of respect," he said. "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."
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www.google.co.uk

Djimon Hounsou: “I Have Yet To Meet The Film That Paid Me Fairly…I Feel Cheated”

'Shazam!' actor Djimon Hounsou says, after 30 years, "I still have to prove why I need to get paid. They always come at me with a complete low ball [offer]."
www.google.co.uk www.google.co.uk

www.google.co.uk

Djimon Hounsou Is ‘Still Struggling to Make a Dollar’ in Hollywood: ‘I Feel Tremendously Cheated’ in Terms of Pay and Workload

Djimon Hounsou says he is still struggling to make a dollar in Hollywood despite 33 years of acting and two Academy Award nominations.
www.google.co.uk www.google.co.uk


Have loved his performances over the years especially in Gladiator, Amistad and Blood Diamond.
 
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Magneto

Magneto

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Mmh i wonder why he's getting paid less and always has to prove that he's up to the task even if he has a great filmography...

Mmh...
 
Kongroo

Kongroo

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Oct 31, 2017
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He seems to be the kind of actor that ALWAYS understands the assignment.

No matter how small his role, his acting shines. He's definitely underappreciated and underpaid.
 
Royalan

Royalan

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Damnit NOT Beauty Shop!

And I ain't even being funny, that's my favorite movie with him in it. But that's a RomCom starring Queen Latifah from the early 2000s. He's definitely done bigger films since then. No way he shouldn't be getting paid.
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

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Oct 27, 2017
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He's always been criminally underused in Hollywood movies. He can do so much more than that completely one note role in Fast and furious or that minor character in Marvel
 
Magneto

Magneto

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Royalan said:
Damnit NOT Beauty Shop!

And I ain't even being funny, that's my favorite movie with him in it. But that's a RomCom starring Queen Latifah from the early 200s. He's definitely done bigger films since then. No way he shouldn't be getting paid.
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It's the spin-off from Barbershop, right ? That was a cool movie ahah
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

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Oct 25, 2017
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Legit one of the most underutilized and underappreciated actors in the industry. Always felt like he gets shafted on most of the roles he's gotten. He never gets the amount of screen time he deserves. A Quiet Place Part 2 is the biggest offender in this regard IMO. He shows up and he's in the movie for like 5 minutes before getting killed off in the dumbest way imaginable.
 
SolidSnakex

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Oct 25, 2017
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I remember that he was Jaffe's choice to play Kratos back when there was a rumored movie right after the original game was released. Now that there's a show it'll be interesting if he's still in the mix, although his age might be a detriment now.

hydruxo said:
Legit one of the most underutilized and underappreciated actors in the industry. Always felt like he gets shafted on most of the roles he's gotten. He never gets the amount of screen time he deserves. A Quiet Place Part 2 is the biggest offender in this regard IMO. He shows up and he's in the movie for like 5 minutes before getting killed off in the dumbest way imaginable.
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They're bringing him back for Day One.
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

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SolidSnakex said:
I remember that he was Jaffe's choice to play Kratos back when there was a rumored movie right after the original game was released. Now that there's a show it'll be interesting if he's still in the mix, although his age might be a detriment now.



They're bringing him back for Day One.
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That's cool, but doesn't change the fact that he was underused in that movie.
 
Bor Gullet

Bor Gullet

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Oct 27, 2017
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All respect to Chadwick Boseman, but dammit he should have been Black Panther.

Was probably too old at that point, but still.
 
Magneto

Magneto

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14,449
hydruxo said:
Legit one of the most underutilized and underappreciated actors in the industry. Always felt like he gets shafted on most of the roles he's gotten. He never gets the amount of screen time he deserves.
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Thanks for the spoil btw, i'm supposed to watch the first one this week.
 
Lkr

Lkr

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Oct 28, 2017
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damn i'll be honest, I never really knew Hounsou's name, but the second I saw the picture in the OP, my mind immediately went "OH I loved his performance in gladiator!"

to join the chorus, I can only "imagine" why he isn't getting the pay he deserves.
 
mattiewheels

mattiewheels

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Oct 27, 2017
5,107
I look at his filmography from the last decade and get sad.

In another universe where he's appreciated this guy has already won like 3 oscars.
 
WascallyWabbit

WascallyWabbit

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Oct 25, 2017
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Unfortunately being good at acting doesn't necessarily mean you're paid well for that acting
Of course, this is not discounting others mentions of racism or discrimination
 
EternalDarko

EternalDarko

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Oct 26, 2017
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He's got tremendous talent, always loved the roles he's done, and yet he's been criminally underutilised.
And yet apparently racism isn't a thing anymore. 🤔
 
Nightwing123

Nightwing123

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Oct 27, 2017
5,414
Just pure systemic racism. Djimon Hounsou has a great film resume and he absolutely deserves way more than what he got.
 
Messofanego

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Oct 25, 2017
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The caliber of films (Ridley Scott, Spielberg, Michael Bay, Marvel, DC) he's been is unmatched to be paid dirt. Systemic racism is still alive and well.

Also great as Papa Midnite. If he says DC treated him well, I hope he got paid fairly for that role but probably not.

View: https://youtu.be/GhUex1ymvZM
 
Magneto

Magneto

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Suge Knight said:
You're complaining about spoilers for a 2 year old movie while never even watching the first which is 5 years old

You people truly astound me. Were you going for some sort of record on avoiding spoilers for the longest time?
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There was no reason to spoil it. Saying that he was underutilized was more than enough. Anyway, that was dumb to do this, but i'll survive i guess.
 
RoninRay

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Bor Gullet said:
All respect to Chadwick Boseman, but dammit he should have been Black Panther.

Was probably too old at that point, but still.
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Fuck no Chadwick was 100 perfect for that role. Djimon Hounsou should have been kratos in god war movie like 15 years ago. Dude is great but always gets stuck as low level side characters
 

Phoony17

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Oct 27, 2017
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Love him when he pops up in a movie and agree that he's underutilized.

He says that he is not paid fairly which raises a question I've always had. How do you benchmark salaries in the film industry? Do they look at a similar role in another movie and compare that?

Must be hard to value yourself in that industry.
 
Royalan

Royalan

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RoninRay said:
Fuck no Chadwick was 100 perfect for that role. Djimon Hounsou should have been kratos in god war movie like 15 years ago. Dude is great but always gets stuck as low level side characters
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Yeah, but the same reason Djimon is getting stiffed on his paychecks is the same reason why he never would have played that particular character.

I mean, I would have gotten my life off the utter outrage if Djimon had been cast to play Kratos back in circa 2006, but let's be real…
 
Tuorom

Tuorom

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Oct 30, 2017
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Love this guy, he's always so great. I think the first time I saw him was in The Four Feathers with Heath Ledger and he was one of the most memorable parts, and I was like I want to see this guy in more movies.
 
Plywood

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Always enjoyed seeing him pop up in different roles throughout the years. I hope this comment doesn't negatively affect him being casted though it's good he spoke out on it. I can only imagine him being asked about his pay potentially from here on out if/when he's promoting a role.
 
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