Djimon Hounsou

Djimon Gaston Hounsou born April 24 1964 is a BenineseAmerican actor and model He began his career appearing in music videos made his film debut in Without You Im 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 BenineseAmerican 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 US 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 Hounsous film debut was in the 1990 Sandra Bernhard film Without You Im 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 onscreen 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 Hookers Boom Boom by Arrested Developments 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 modelCEO of Baby Phat Kimora Lee Simmons In 2008 Hounsou and Simmons visited Hounsous 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 Kimoras third child