FILM- Bearing the African Flag in Hollywood
Feb 04, 2010
A crop of African actors, by parentage or immigrants, are riding against the odds to excel in the cut-throat American movie industry. As we celebrate Black History month this February
A crop of African actors, by parentage or immigrants, are riding against the odds to excel in the cut-throat American movie industry. As we celebrate Black History month this February, Joseph Ssemutooke examines these extraordinary children of Africa and their exploits.
Djimon Honsou (Benin)
Nominated for two Academy Awards and eight smaller awards, and winner of 11 other awards, Djimon Hounsou is the most recognisable African face in Hollywood. He has starred in such movies as Blood Diamond, Push, Black Panther, The Beauty Shop, Constantine, Biker Boyz, In America, Deep rising and Amistad — which cast him into the limelight. Djimon Gaston Hounsou was in born in April 24, 1964 in Benin, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook.
His parents sent him to Lyon, France, at the age of 13 to live with his brother Edmond and attain a good education. But refusing to go to school, he became a model in Paris in the mid-1980s before moving to the US in the late 1980s unable to speak English. He initially appeared in music videos for Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul and Madonna, courtesy of his physique and sex appeal.
However, he eventually learnt a little English and got acting roles like Sandra Bernhard’s ex-boyfriend in 1990’s comedy Without You, I’m Nothing. Over time he improved, reaching his peak about the late 1990s.
Sophie Okonedo (Nigeria)
Most Ugandans remember her as Tatiana in Hotel Rwanda, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She has also starred in Skin, The Secret Life of Bees, Tsunami the Aftermath, Scenes of a Sexual Nature and many others.
Her father, a Nigerian, abandoned her mother, of Polish/Russian Jewish origin, when she was only five. She is famous for her roles as Sandra Laing in Skin and as Winnie, wife of legendary anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in Mrs Mandela (2009).
Charlize Theron (South Africa)
Undoubtedly the most famous movie star to come out of Africa, Charlize is one of the 10 best paid actresses in Hollywood today, commanding about $20m per movie, thanks to her combination of good looks and superb acting skills.
She has starred in such films as Trapped, Italian Job, Monster, The Burning Plane, North Country, Children of the Corn2, Sleepwalking and The Road. Able to speak South African dialects Afrikaans, Sotho, Swana besides English, Charlize was born and grew up on her parents’ farm in Benoni, Johannesburg.
Her mother shot and killed her father while he was in a drunken rage. At 19, she left South Africa in search of better opportunities for her modeling and ballet-dancing ambitions. She was discovered by Hollywood talent manager, John Crosby, who discerned her acting gifts while she threw a tantrum in a bank in Los Angeles.
In 2004, she became the first African to win an Oscar (Academy Award) for a leading role when she portrayed a serial killer in Monster. She also won a SAG Award, a Golden Globe Award, among others. In 2005, she was given her own star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And she’s still proud of her origins. While receiving her Oscar in 2004, she said in her acceptance speech, ‘I’m going to thank everybody in South Africa, my home country. You’re all watching tonight, I know, and I’m bringing this home next week.â€
Days after, Charlize jetted into South Africa with the Oscar to a heroine’s welcome, and met Nelson Mandela, her personal hero, while President Thabo Mbeki sent a note saying: ‘We are all immensely proud of this, our South African daughter.
We wish her well.’ Subsequently, the South African government named her the country’s cultural ambassador, and last year, she conducted the draws for the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Nigeria)
Ejiofor has starred in such films as last year’s blockbuster 2012, Tsunami — The Aftermath, Serenity, Inside Man, Children of Men and Endgame in which he played Thabo Mbeki.
He has also played Othello in the classical Shakespearean play and has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards four times. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008.
Born and raised in Britain, Ejiofor is an Igbo from Nigeria. His parents, the father a doctor and the mother a pharmacist, were immigrants in the UK. He visits Nigeria every year
Idris Alba (Sierra Leone and Ghana)
He is one of Hollywood’s top male actors today. Has played Beyonce’s husband in Obsessed, ‘Stringer Bell’, in The Wire, and appeared in American Gangster (2007) with Denzel Washington.
He was featured as one of the “Ten Hottest Men on the Planet†in the Essence magazine (2004 and 2005). He spends much of his time in Atlanta where he owns a house and lives close to his daughter.
He was born Idrissa Akuna Elba in London to a father from Sierra Leone and a mother from Ghana in 1972. His first big movie was Sometimes In April alongside our own Abbey Mukiibi.
Arnold Vosloo (South Africa)
He played villain in the The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns; has starred in Blood Diamond, The Rise of Cobra and hit TV series 24. But did you know that Arnold Vosloo was born and bred in South Africa?
The 48-year-old launched his career in South African theatre and crossed into local film. He moved to the U.S in 1988 aged 26 and began winning international acclaim playing smaller roles in films like Darkman and Hard Target, before his big break. He visits South Africa often, and even shoots movies there.
Gabourey “Gabby†Sidibe (Senegal)
The daughter of a Senegalese cab-driver and an African-American mom, 26-year-old Gabby was Tuesday nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category for her debut role in Precious. She is only the second black actress to be nominated for best actress for her first movie after Jennifer Hudson.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Nigeria)
He was Kwesi in Get Rich or Die Tryin. In 2001, he played the African guide Loch-Nah, in Mummy Returns. In The Bourne Identity he was Nykwana Wombosi (the deposed African dictator); on ABC’s survivor drama Lost he is Mr. Eko, while in the HBO prison series Oz, he is the criminal Simon Adebisi.
He has also starred in such films as Lip Service and Enslavement. His parents migrated to Britain. At six weeks old, he was sent to live with foster parents in Nigeria. He returned to London at 15 to study, funding his own way through college with modeling work.
He worked as a model in Milan in the early 1990s after graduating with a Master’s degree in Laws, before becoming an actor and moved to Los Angeles.
Thandie Newton (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
One of Hollywood’s leading actresses, she starred in Mission Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Chronicles of Riddick, Crash and Norbit (alongside Eddy Murphy). She won a BAFTA award in 2006. In W, she played Condoleezza Rice. In 2012, she played US first daughter Laura.
‘Thandie’, pronounced ‘Tandiwe’ in full, means ‘beloved’ in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi. She has her origins in Zimbabwe and Zambia. She was born in Zambia in 1972, to a British expatriate father and a Zimbabwean mother who is a princess from the Shonna tribe.
Her family fled Zambia when she was three following political unrest. She ended up in England where she grew up in the Cornwall neighbourhood of London.
Alek Wek (Sudan)
Her biggest claim to fame is fashion modelling, but Alek Wek is also an actress in her own right. The Sudanese beauty who is often ranked among the sexiest and most beautiful women, made her acting debut in The Four Feathers as Sudanese princess Aquol alongside Djimon Hounsou.
Her other roles included Yves in Saint Laurent: His Life and Times (2002) and Valentino in The Last Emperor (2008). Her name means ‘the black and white cow.’
She was born in the Dinka tribe of Sudan in 1977 but moved with one of her sisters to London when she was 14 in 1991, to escape the civil war in Sudan.
Iman (Somalia)
More famous as a model, Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid also boasts of a remarkable acting career. She has had screen roles since 1979, with a filmography that includes The Human Factor (1979), Exposed (1983), Out of Africa (1985), No way Out (1987), House Party (1991), Star Trek VI (1991), Exit to Eden (1994) and Project Run Away Canada (2007 and 2009).
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1955, Iman is the daughter of former Somali ambassador to Saudi Arabia. She moved to the US in 1975 after American photographer Peter Beard discovered her at her Nairobi University in Kenya.
Djimon Honsou (Benin)
Nominated for two Academy Awards and eight smaller awards, and winner of 11 other awards, Djimon Hounsou is the most recognisable African face in Hollywood. He has starred in such movies as Blood Diamond, Push, Black Panther, The Beauty Shop, Constantine, Biker Boyz, In America, Deep rising and Amistad — which cast him into the limelight. Djimon Gaston Hounsou was in born in April 24, 1964 in Benin, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook.
His parents sent him to Lyon, France, at the age of 13 to live with his brother Edmond and attain a good education. But refusing to go to school, he became a model in Paris in the mid-1980s before moving to the US in the late 1980s unable to speak English. He initially appeared in music videos for Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul and Madonna, courtesy of his physique and sex appeal.
However, he eventually learnt a little English and got acting roles like Sandra Bernhard’s ex-boyfriend in 1990’s comedy Without You, I’m Nothing. Over time he improved, reaching his peak about the late 1990s.
Sophie Okonedo (Nigeria)
Most Ugandans remember her as Tatiana in Hotel Rwanda, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She has also starred in Skin, The Secret Life of Bees, Tsunami the Aftermath, Scenes of a Sexual Nature and many others.
Her father, a Nigerian, abandoned her mother, of Polish/Russian Jewish origin, when she was only five. She is famous for her roles as Sandra Laing in Skin and as Winnie, wife of legendary anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in Mrs Mandela (2009).
Charlize Theron (South Africa)
Undoubtedly the most famous movie star to come out of Africa, Charlize is one of the 10 best paid actresses in Hollywood today, commanding about $20m per movie, thanks to her combination of good looks and superb acting skills.
She has starred in such films as Trapped, Italian Job, Monster, The Burning Plane, North Country, Children of the Corn2, Sleepwalking and The Road. Able to speak South African dialects Afrikaans, Sotho, Swana besides English, Charlize was born and grew up on her parents’ farm in Benoni, Johannesburg.
Her mother shot and killed her father while he was in a drunken rage. At 19, she left South Africa in search of better opportunities for her modeling and ballet-dancing ambitions. She was discovered by Hollywood talent manager, John Crosby, who discerned her acting gifts while she threw a tantrum in a bank in Los Angeles.
In 2004, she became the first African to win an Oscar (Academy Award) for a leading role when she portrayed a serial killer in Monster. She also won a SAG Award, a Golden Globe Award, among others. In 2005, she was given her own star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And she’s still proud of her origins. While receiving her Oscar in 2004, she said in her acceptance speech, ‘I’m going to thank everybody in South Africa, my home country. You’re all watching tonight, I know, and I’m bringing this home next week.â€
Days after, Charlize jetted into South Africa with the Oscar to a heroine’s welcome, and met Nelson Mandela, her personal hero, while President Thabo Mbeki sent a note saying: ‘We are all immensely proud of this, our South African daughter.
We wish her well.’ Subsequently, the South African government named her the country’s cultural ambassador, and last year, she conducted the draws for the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Nigeria)
Ejiofor has starred in such films as last year’s blockbuster 2012, Tsunami — The Aftermath, Serenity, Inside Man, Children of Men and Endgame in which he played Thabo Mbeki.
He has also played Othello in the classical Shakespearean play and has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards four times. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008.
Born and raised in Britain, Ejiofor is an Igbo from Nigeria. His parents, the father a doctor and the mother a pharmacist, were immigrants in the UK. He visits Nigeria every year
Idris Alba (Sierra Leone and Ghana)
He is one of Hollywood’s top male actors today. Has played Beyonce’s husband in Obsessed, ‘Stringer Bell’, in The Wire, and appeared in American Gangster (2007) with Denzel Washington.
He was featured as one of the “Ten Hottest Men on the Planet†in the Essence magazine (2004 and 2005). He spends much of his time in Atlanta where he owns a house and lives close to his daughter.
He was born Idrissa Akuna Elba in London to a father from Sierra Leone and a mother from Ghana in 1972. His first big movie was Sometimes In April alongside our own Abbey Mukiibi.
Arnold Vosloo (South Africa)
He played villain in the The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns; has starred in Blood Diamond, The Rise of Cobra and hit TV series 24. But did you know that Arnold Vosloo was born and bred in South Africa?
The 48-year-old launched his career in South African theatre and crossed into local film. He moved to the U.S in 1988 aged 26 and began winning international acclaim playing smaller roles in films like Darkman and Hard Target, before his big break. He visits South Africa often, and even shoots movies there.
Gabourey “Gabby†Sidibe (Senegal)
The daughter of a Senegalese cab-driver and an African-American mom, 26-year-old Gabby was Tuesday nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category for her debut role in Precious. She is only the second black actress to be nominated for best actress for her first movie after Jennifer Hudson.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Nigeria)
He was Kwesi in Get Rich or Die Tryin. In 2001, he played the African guide Loch-Nah, in Mummy Returns. In The Bourne Identity he was Nykwana Wombosi (the deposed African dictator); on ABC’s survivor drama Lost he is Mr. Eko, while in the HBO prison series Oz, he is the criminal Simon Adebisi.
He has also starred in such films as Lip Service and Enslavement. His parents migrated to Britain. At six weeks old, he was sent to live with foster parents in Nigeria. He returned to London at 15 to study, funding his own way through college with modeling work.
He worked as a model in Milan in the early 1990s after graduating with a Master’s degree in Laws, before becoming an actor and moved to Los Angeles.
Thandie Newton (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
One of Hollywood’s leading actresses, she starred in Mission Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Chronicles of Riddick, Crash and Norbit (alongside Eddy Murphy). She won a BAFTA award in 2006. In W, she played Condoleezza Rice. In 2012, she played US first daughter Laura.
‘Thandie’, pronounced ‘Tandiwe’ in full, means ‘beloved’ in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi. She has her origins in Zimbabwe and Zambia. She was born in Zambia in 1972, to a British expatriate father and a Zimbabwean mother who is a princess from the Shonna tribe.
Her family fled Zambia when she was three following political unrest. She ended up in England where she grew up in the Cornwall neighbourhood of London.
Alek Wek (Sudan)
Her biggest claim to fame is fashion modelling, but Alek Wek is also an actress in her own right. The Sudanese beauty who is often ranked among the sexiest and most beautiful women, made her acting debut in The Four Feathers as Sudanese princess Aquol alongside Djimon Hounsou.
Her other roles included Yves in Saint Laurent: His Life and Times (2002) and Valentino in The Last Emperor (2008). Her name means ‘the black and white cow.’
She was born in the Dinka tribe of Sudan in 1977 but moved with one of her sisters to London when she was 14 in 1991, to escape the civil war in Sudan.
Iman (Somalia)
More famous as a model, Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid also boasts of a remarkable acting career. She has had screen roles since 1979, with a filmography that includes The Human Factor (1979), Exposed (1983), Out of Africa (1985), No way Out (1987), House Party (1991), Star Trek VI (1991), Exit to Eden (1994) and Project Run Away Canada (2007 and 2009).
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1955, Iman is the daughter of former Somali ambassador to Saudi Arabia. She moved to the US in 1975 after American photographer Peter Beard discovered her at her Nairobi University in Kenya.