Africans with Humble beginnings – Djimon Honsou

Born 1964 in Cotonou Benin to a father who was a cook, Djimon Hounsou moved to Lyons, France at the age of 13 to study to be a doctor but that obviously didn’t pan out. He was discovered by a modelling agency and started appearing in music videos and TV shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, ER and Alias.

According to Encyclopedia, Hounsou made his film debut in Without You I’m Nothing. His career later went into high gear when he was cast as Cinque, the leader of a slave ship mutiny in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film Amistad.

The actor has since proven his value in mainstream Hollywood, earning an Oscar nomination for performance in 2006’s Blood Diamond.

Below are some of his noteworthy modelling gigs with Calvin Klein

 

 

 

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