Biography
Djimon Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor. Born on 24 April 1964 in Cotonou, Benin, he moved to France at the age of 13 and to the United States in 1990. He began his career as a model in Paris and appeared in music videos before making his film debut in Without You I'm Nothing (1990).
Hounsou received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Amistad (1997) and Blood Diamond (2006). His other film credits include Gladiator (2000), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Shazam! (2019) as the Wizard, Gran Turismo (2023) as Steve Mardenborough, Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) as the Wizard, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) as Titus, and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) as Henri. He became a naturalised US citizen in 2007 while retaining Beninese citizenship.
