Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos, made his film debut in Without You I’m Nothing and earned widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad. As an actor, Hounsou has been nominated for two Academy Awards.
Hounsou became a naturalized American citizen in 2007. He was reluctant to renounce his Beninese citizenship and therefore opted to become a dual citizen of both Benin and the United States, effectively rendering him a Beninese-American.
Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1964, to lbertine and Pierre Hounsou. He immigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond. In 1987, he became a model and established a career in Paris. He moved to the U.S. in 1990. One year before obtaining his college degree, he dropped out of school.
In 1989, he appeared in a music video of Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Hounsou’s film debut was in the 1990 Sandra Bernhard film Without You I’m Nothing, and he has had television roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and ER and a guest starring role on Alias, but received a larger role in the science fiction film Stargate. His first on-screen appearance was in the 1990 Janet Jackson video “Love Will Never Do (Without You).†He also starred in a 2002 Gap commercial directed by Peter Lindbergh, dancing to a rendition of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” by Arrested Development’s Baba Oje.
He received wide critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Cinqué in the 1997 Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He gained further notice as Juba, in the 2000 film Gladiator. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for In America, in 2004, becoming the fourth African male to be nominated for an Oscar (along with Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway and Omar Sharif). In 2006, he won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Blood Diamond; he received Broadcast Film Critics Association, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award nominations for this performance.
In 2007, Hounsou began dating model/CEO of Baby Phat, Kimora Lee Simmons. In 2008 Hounsou and Simmons visited Hounsou’s family and while there, the two participated in a traditional commitment ceremony. On May 30, 2009, Simmons gave birth to their son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou, reportedly named because Kenzo means 3 (Kimora’s third child).
Djimon Hounsou Biography / Wiki
| Name | Djimon Hounsou |
| Also Know | Djimon, Djimon Gaston Hounsou, Djimon Hounso, Djimon Housoun, Джимон ХонÑу, 디몬 하운수, ジャイモン・フンスー, ジャイモン・ガストン・フンスー |
| Gender | Male |
| Known For | Acting |
| Place of Birth | Cotonou, Benin |
| Date of Birth | 1964-04-24 |
| Age(as in 2022) | 58 |
| Deathday |
Djimon Hounsou Acting Movies
| Movie Name | Character | Release Date | Overview |
| The Middle Passage | Narrator (voice – U.S. Version) | 2000-09-09 | A realistic look at the horrors of the slave trade, told entirely through the voice of a dead African slave whose spirit haunts the ocean route…. |
| Black Panther | T’Challa | 2010-01-18 | Black Panther is the ruler and protector of the African nation of Wakanda. Using technology, wits, and extraordinary fighting ability he must protect … |
| In Search of Voodoo: Roots to Heaven | Host | 2018-03-10 | In Search of Voodoo: Roots to Heaven captures the vibrant tales of Voodoo in West Africa. Following actor Djimon Hounsou back to Benin, the country of… |
| African History Y | … | ||
| Ill Gotten Gains | Fyah | 1997-12-05 | WEST AFRICA 1869 – Slave trade is illegal. There is a revolt on a slave ship – twenty four men fight for their lives. Out-gunned, the revolt fails but… |
| Kimana Tuskers | Narrator (voice) | 2021-12-05 | There are fewer than 20 tuskers left on earth, where ivory still sweeps the ground. Filmed throughout the Greater Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya, Kimana … |
| Panzi | Denis Mukwege | … | |
| Blood Diamond | Solomon Vandy | 2006-12-07 | An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missio… |
| Special Forces | Commander Kovax | 2011-11-02 | Afghanistan. War correspondent Elsa Casanova is taken hostage by the Taliban. Faced with her imminent execution, a Special Forces unit is dispatched t… |
| Elephant White | Curtie Church | 2011-05-17 | An assassin is hired by a businessman to avenge the murder of his daughter by white slave traders in Thailand…. |
| Air | Cartwright | 2015-08-14 | In the near future, breathable air is nonexistent. Virtually all of humanity has disappeared, and those chosen to reestablish society reside in a cont… |
| Same Kind of Different as Me | Denver | 2017-10-20 | International art dealer Ron Hall must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife, a woman whose dreams wi… |
| The Island | Albert Laurent | 2005-07-21 | In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly “Utopian” but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled envi… |
| Last Breath | A diver is stranded on the bottom of the North Sea, and when his umbilical cord snaps because of rough seas and an equipment mishap on the ship above,… | ||
| Untitled Gladiator Sequel | Juba | The film will follow the continuing story of Lucius, the son of Lucilla…. | |
| Constantine | Midnite | 2005-02-08 | John Constantine has literally been to Hell and back. When he teams up with a policewoman to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their in… |
| Amistad | Cinque | 1997-12-10 | In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are th… |
| Never Back Down | Jean Roqua | 2008-03-04 | Jake, full of anger after his father’s death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school – until Ryan, head of an und… |
| Biker Boyz | Motherland | 2003-01-31 | A mythic motorcycle tale of father and son”, this is the story of Manuel Galloway, also known as “the King of Cali”, the president of a motorcycle clu… |
| The Four Feathers | Abou Fatma | 2002-09-08 | The story, set in 1885, follows a British officer (Heath Ledger) who resigns his post when he learns of his regiment’s plan to ship out to the Sudan f… |
| Push | Agent Henry Carver | 2009-02-04 | After his father, an assassin, is brutally murdered, Nick Gant vows revenge on Division, the covert government agency that dabbles in psychic warfare … |
| Beauty Shop | Joe | 2005-04-22 | Far from Chicago, hairdresser Gina Norris has relocated to Atlanta with her daughter and has quickly established herself as a rare talent in her profe… |
| Dead Weight | Detective Youssouf | 2002-04-10 | Prison guard Reggio lets Moltes have a weekly lottery ticket in exchange for his suave relationship advice. When Moltes learns that he has a winning l… |
| King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Bedivere | 2017-05-10 | When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is… |
| Gran Turismo | 2023-08-09 | The ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual pr… | |
| Renegade | Woodhead | 2004-02-09 | U.S Marshal Mike Donovan has dark memories of the death of his first love. He keeps peace between the Americans and the natives who had temporarily ad… |
| In America | Mateo | 2003-10-31 | A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell’s Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child…. |
| The Legend of Tarzan | Chief Mbonga | 2016-06-29 | Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment…. |
| Serenity | Duke | 2019-01-24 | The quiet life of Baker Dill, a fishing boat captain who lives on the isolated Plymouth Island, where he spends his days obsessed with capturing an el… |
| The King’s Man | Shola | 2021-12-22 | As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop … |
| A Quiet Place Part II | Man on Island | 2021-05-21 | Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the c… |
| A Place in Time | Self | 2007-04-26 | The film takes a look at the daily lives of people in more than two dozen countries around the world during the course of a week. In the film, celebri… |
| Rebel Moon | General Titus | A young woman with a mysterious past is dispatched to seek warriors from neighboring planets to take a stand against the armies of a tyrannical regen… | |
| Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Kosa | 2003-07-21 | Lara Croft is tasked by MI6 to find the mythological Pandora’s Box, an object from ancient legends which supposedly contains one of the deadliest pla… |
| Shazam! | Wizard | 2019-03-29 | A boy is given the ability to become an adult superhero in times of need with a single magic word…. |
| Charlie’s Angels | Bosley | 2019-11-14 | When a systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie’s Angels from across the globe are called into action, putting their live… |
| Captain Marvel | Korath | 2019-03-06 | The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war betwe… |
| Gladiator | Juba | 2000-05-04 | In the year 180, the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius throws the Roman Empire into chaos. Maximus is one of the Roman army’s most capable and trusted… |
| Seventh Son | Radu | 2014-12-12 | John Gregory, who is a seventh son of a seventh son and also the local spook, has protected the country from witches, boggarts, ghouls and all manner … |
| I Am Heath Ledger | Self | 2017-04-23 | The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera…. |
| Eragon | Ajihad | 2006-12-14 | In his homeland of Alagaesia, a farm boy happens upon a dragon’s egg — a discovery that leads him on a predestined journey where he realized he’s the… |
| Furious 7 | Jakande | 2015-04-01 | Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother…. |
| Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank | Sumo (voice) | 2022-07-14 | A hard-on-his-luck hound finds himself in a town full of cats in need of a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s wicked plot to wipe their vil… |
| Baggage Claim | Quinton Jamison | 2013-09-27 | Determined to get engaged before her youngest sister’s wedding, flight attendant Montana Moore finds herself with only 30 days to make a connection. F… |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | Korath | 2014-07-30 | Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Rona… |
| Shazam! Fury of the Gods | Wizard | 2023-03-15 | Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying “Shazam!”, are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters o… |
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Drago (voice) | 2014-06-05 | Five years have passed since Hiccup and Toothless united the dragons and Vikings of Berk. Now, they spend their time charting unmapped territories. Du… |
| The Vatican Tapes | Vicar Imani | 2015-07-24 | In a highly secured vault deep within the walls of Vatican City, the Catholic Church holds thousands of old films and video footage documenting exorci… |
| Stargate | Horus | 1994-10-28 | An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra…. |
| The Tempest | Caliban | 2010-09-11 | An adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare. Prospera (a female version of Shakespeare’s Prospero) is the usurped ruler of Milan who has been ban… |
| Deep Rising | Vivo | 1998-01-30 | A group of heavily armed hijackers board a luxury ocean liner in the South Pacific Ocean to loot it, only to do battle with a series of large-sized, t… |
| Unlawful Entry | Prisoner on Bench | 1992-06-26 | After a break-in at their house, a couple gets help from one of the cops who answered their call. He helps them install a security system, begins drop… |
| Killing Zoe | Moïse (voice) | 1993-10-01 | Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the… |
| Killers Kill, Dead Men Die | The Champ | 2007-03-13 | The most ambitious portfolio in the 13-year history of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue, this year’s homage to noir had its own dramatic imperatives…. |
| Black Adam | Wizard | 2022-10-19 | Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam is freed from his… |
| Aquaman | King Ricou (voice) | 2018-12-07 | Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King Orm. With a vast army at hi… |
| Strength and Honor: Creating the World of ‘Gladiator’ | Self | 2005-06-07 | An in-depth look at the entire making of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Consisting of: Tale Of The Scribes: Story Development, The Heat Of Battle: Product… |
| Without You I’m Nothing | Ex-Boyfriend | 1990-05-11 | Sandra Bernhard stars in a studio version of her off-Broadway show, blending re-enactments of the original show’s pieces with concept vignettes and ‘t… |
| Marvel Studios’ 2021 Disney+ Day Special | Korath (voice) (archive footage) | 2021-11-12 | Explore the Disney+ series of the MCU—past, present and future…. |
Djimon Hounsou Directing Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| In Search of Voodoo: Roots to Heaven | Director | 2018-03-10 | In Search of Voodoo: Roots to Heaven captures the vibrant tales of Voodoo in West Africa. Following actor Djimon Hounsou back to Benin, the country of… |
Djimon Hounsou Production Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| Elephant White | Producer | 2011-05-17 | An assassin is hired by a businessman to avenge the murder of his daughter by white slave traders in Thailand…. |
Credit: TMDB
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