“I feel cheated”: Blood Diamond star Djimon Hounsou blasts Oscars judges

Benin-born actor Djimon Hounsou has lambasted the judges at the Oscar Awards as he is yet to get recognition for an accolade.

The Blood Diamond and America actor says he ‘feels cheated’ as he can’t just accept a nomination but feels he deserves to win something.

In fact, he says he should have got an Oscar a long time ago had it not been judges who overlook black actors.

Since Blood Diamond in 2006, he has mostly acted in bit parts and as a sidekick but the role in Amistad was Hounsou’s Hollywood calling card.

The New York Times said his performance gave the film “a strong visual focus as he radiates extraordinary presence and fury”.

However, despite the widespread acclaim, one body that failed to notice his performance was the Academy as his co-star, Anthony Hopkins, was nominated for the best-supporting actor, leaving Hounsou overlooked.

“Yeah (very frustrating). Maybe I was early. If my movies had come out today I definitely would have gotten an Oscar already,” he tells The Guardian.

Hounsou was at least nominated for his later performances in In America (2002) and Blood Diamond (2006), although in the latter Leonardo DiCaprio received a nomination for best actor while Hounsou had to make do with a nod for the best-supporting actor, despite the film focusing on his character’s story.

“I felt seriously cheated. Today, we talk so much about the Oscars being so white, but I remember there was a time when I had no support at all: no support from my own people, no support from the media, from the industry itself. It felt like: ‘You should be happy that you’ve got nominated,’ and that’s that.”

Furthermore, he was frustrated with the limited parts black actors were being offered, he has played a slave three times in five years (in Amistad, Gladiator, and The Four Feathers).

“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,” he adds.

“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.

“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.’”

Main Image: Djimon Hounsou/Deadline

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