Djimon Hounsou

Djimon Hounsou: biography

Like most of the actors, Djimon Hounsou began his path to the cinema stardom with filming in advertising and participating in fashion shows of the French fashion designer, Thierry Mugler. Djimon Gaston Hounsou was born on April 24, 1964, in the city of Cotonou, the capital of the Republic of Benin (West Africa).

The actor's father, Pierre, worked as a cook, and mother Albertine kept the house and raised her son. Hounsou studied in Paris, where the actor's family moved when Djimon turned thirteen years old.

After graduation from school, Djimon could not find a job for a couple of months. It is known that during this difficult period, the young man who was used to sponge on the parents wandered and begged.

In all likelihood, the fate of the actor would have been much different if he had not had a good deal of luck. The charming young man was noticed by fashion designer Thierry Mugler who offered Hounsou a job as a fashion model. Having signed a semi-annual contract, Djimon appeared in a couple of shows of the distinguished designer. Later, he was showered with proposals for cooperation.

Then the charming young man appeared in commercials of the American director and music video director, David Fincher, and also participated in a photo shoot organized by Herb Ritts. In 1990, Hounsou was one of the world's most recognized fashion models, and the actor decided to move to Los Angeles.

To communicate with people and get a job, the actor had to learn English, which he mastered quite quickly because he watched documentaries on TV.

The move to Los Angeles was the starting point in the acting career of Djimon. When he appeared in famous singer Janet Jackson’s video entitled "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," Hounsou attracted the attention of acting agents.

Films

Like all novice actors, at first, Djimon got only bit parts. So he appeared in the fantasy action movie Stargate, the crime thriller Unlawful Entry and Stephen Sommers’s film Deep Rising.

In 1997, Djimon got the lead role in Steven Spielberg's historical drama Amistad. The film that brought him the Golden Globe Award determined his entire future career path.

Then, the actor starred in the Oscar-winning film Gladiator, in which Hounsou portrayed a Nubian warrior, Juba, who fought along with Russell Crowe's hero, Maximus.

In 2006, Djimon played alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly in the adventure drama Blood Diamond directed by Edward Zwick. The plot tells about a young smuggler, Danny Archer, who searched and sold diamonds during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1999.

2010 was marked by the release of the film The Tempest, which is the adaptation of the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. Helen Mirren, David Strathairn, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Ben Whishaw, and Felicity Jones performed the leading roles in the film.

Four years later, fans saw their favorite actor as Korath the Pursuer in the adventure film Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn. The movie is based on the Marvel Comics. The plot centers on the adventurer, Peter Quill / Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). When the man steals a mysterious orb, his life turned upside down.

The orb also attracts the attention of Ronan (Lee Pace), a powerful villain, threatening to wipe out all life on Earth. To protect himself, Quill сcooperates with galactic criminals, the genetically modified raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the tree-like humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel), the dangerous Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who is obsessed with revenge.

Having learned about the power of the artifact, Star-Lord decides to confront Ronan, which turns into a deadly fight. From 2015 to 2016, the filmography of the actor included the films Seventh Son, The Vatican Tapes, Furious 7, The Legend of Tarzan and Air.

Personal life

There is little information about the personal life of the eminent actor. It is only known that in 2007, Djimon began dating Kimora Lee Simmons, the American model of African-Japanese decent. Two years later, the couple had a boy. The happy parents named their son Kenzo.

In November 2012, the lovers shocked their fans when they told the media that they had broken up. It is noteworthy that European newspapers and magazines did not write about the reasons.

Djimon Hounsou now

In May 2017, Guy Ritchie's adventure film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword premiered in the USA. Charlie Hunnam, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou and Jude Law played the leading roles in the movie, which is based on legends about King Arthur.

It is known that the film grossed $ 148.7 million worldwide against its $175 million production budget, thus becoming a box-office failure. Reviews of critics were also mainly negative. Initially, the film was meant to be the first in a six-film franchise, but later the release of the next movie was canceled.

In October of the same year, Michael Carney's drama Same Kind of Different as Me was released. The story centers on the family relationships of Ron (Greg Kinnear) and Deborah (Renée Zellweger) Hall, who are getting worse and worse every day. The husband sees that they grow apart every day, so he becomes reserved, tries to save the marriage, but, alas, everything is in vain.

Ron is a successful art dealer who is familiar with the local aristocratic society and often communicates with the powerful people. One day, the man who has almost lost his family meets a poor black old man, Denver (Djimon Hounsou), and helps him.

Soon Denver becomes a member of the Hall family. Denver is a hard-liner who makes it a point of honor to help the friend win his wife back because the family is the most important thing on earth.

Moreover, in 2018, the filmography of the talented actor will include the films Paradise Lost, Serenity and One, which shooting is already well underway.

Despite the busy schedule, the actor does not forget about his fans. On Instagram, Djimon regularly posts photos of shooting, as well as video of the rest. It is worth mentioning that social networks are not the only source of the latest news about the life of Hounsou.

Various Internet sites and print media also frequently publish the content associated with the acting career of the Hollywood star.

Filmography

• 1994 – Stargate
• 1998 – Deep Rising
• 2002 – Le Boulet
• 2003 – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life
• 2005 – Constantine
• 2006 – Blood Diamond
• 2010 – The Tempest
• 2011 – Special Forces
• 2013 – Baggage Claim
• 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy
• 2015 – Furious 7
• 2016 – The Legend of Tarzan
• 2017 – Same Kind of Different as Me
• 2017 – King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

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