Early life

Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Bénin, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He emigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond. Soon after arriving in France, Hounsou dropped out of school and became homeless for a time. A chance meeting with a photographer led to Hounsou being introduced to fashion designer Thierry Mugler, who encouraged Hounsou to pursue a modeling career. In 1987, Hounsou became a model and established a career in Paris. He moved to the United States in 1990.

Career

Acting

Between 1989 and 1991, Hounsou appeared in the music videos for "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" by Janet Jackson, and Madonna's "Express Yourself".

Hounsou's film debut was in the 1990 Sandra Bernhard film Without You I'm Nothing. He had television parts on Beverly Hills, 90210 and ER and a guest starring role on Alias. Hounsou captured a larger role in the science fiction film Stargate.

Hounsou 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. In 2004, Hounsou was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for In America, making him the fourth African male to be nominated for an Oscar. 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.

Hounsou also acted in a supporting role in the 2009 science fiction film Push, as Agent Henry Carver. In 2011, he starred as a French commando in the French film Forces spéciales.

Director Tim Story told IGN that if he were to do a third Fantastic Four movie, he would like to have Hounsou as the Black Panther. In November 2008, it was announced that Hounsou would be providing the voice of the Black Panther in the television series of the same name. Hounsou had signed on to play Abdiel in the film version of John Milton's Paradise Lost with Benjamin Walker and Bradley Cooper. The film however was scrapped in early February 2012.

In 2013, he appeared in the comedy film Baggage Claim alongside Paula Patton. He also voiced Drago Bludvist in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and portrayed Korath the Pursuer in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, both in 2014. He played villains in two 2015 films, Seventh Son and Furious 7, the seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious film series, the latter where he played the role of Mose Jakande, a Nigerian-French Mercenary.

On February 17, 2016, FOX reported that Hounsou would join the second season of the television series Wayward Pines.

Modeling

On February 24, 2007, it was announced that Hounsou would be the new Calvin Klein underwear model.

Other work

In 2010, Hounsou was featured as the narrator in ESPN's running series of "32 teams, 1 dream" commercials for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Hounsou spoke at the Summit on Climate Change at the United Nations on Tuesday, September 22, 2009. On Tuesday, December 1, 2009, Hounsou told French media that developed countries “need to be held accountable” for their contribution to climate change.

Personal life

In 2007, Hounsou began dating model Kimora Lee Simmons. On May 30, 2009, Simmons gave birth to their son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou, reportedly named because "Kenzo" means "three" (Kimora's third child). Hounsou and Simmons visited Hounsou's family in his native Benin in the summer of 2008, where the two participated in a traditional commitment ceremony. The couple were adorned in traditional clothing and used the ceremony, in the presence of Hounsou's family, to solidify that they are "dedicated to each other 100%." The two, however, emphasized that the ceremony was not a wedding. In the début of Kimora Lee Simmons' show, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, he was billed as her husband. Hounsou and Simmons, who were never legally married in the United States, announced their separation in November 2012.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Without You I’m Nothing	Ex-boyfriend
1992	Unlawful Entry	Prisoner on bench
1993	Killing Zoe	Moïse (voice)
1994	Stargate	Horus
1997	Ill Gotten Gains	Fyah
1997	Amistad	Cinqué
1998	Deep Rising	Vivo
2000	Gladiator	Juba
2000	The Middle Passage	Narrator	Documentary; US version
2001	The Tag	Marshall	Short film
2002	Le Boulet	Detective Youssouf
2002	The Four Feathers	Abou Fatma
2002	In America	Mateo
2002	Heroes	Mystery Man	Short film
2003	Biker Boyz	Motherland
2003	Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life	Kosa
2004	Blueberry	Woodhead
2005	Constantine	Midnite
2005	Beauty Shop	Joe
2005	The Island	Albert Laurent
2006	Blood Diamond	Solomon Vandy
2006	Eragon	Ajihad
2008	Never Back Down	Jean Roqua
2009	Push	Henry Carver
2010	The Tempest	Caliban
2011	Elephant White	Curtie Church
2011	Special Forces	Kovax
2013	Baggage Claim	Quinton Jamison
2014	How to Train Your Dragon 2	Drago Bludvist (voice)
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Korath
2014	Seventh Son	Radu
2015	Furious 7	Mose Jakande
2015	The Vatican Tapes	Vicar Imani
2015	Air	Cartwright
2016	The Legend of Tarzan	Chief Mbonga	Post-production
2017	Same Kind of Different as Me	Denver	Post-production
2017	Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur	Bedivere	Filming
2017	Blazing Samurai	Sumo	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Beverly Hills, 90210	Doorman	Episode: "Class of Beverly Hills"
1999	ER	Mobalage Ikabo	6 episodes
2000	The Wild Thornberrys	Villager (voice)	Episode: "Luck Be an Aye-Aye"
2001	Soul Food	Victor Onuka	Episode: "Games People Play"
2003-2004	Alias	Kazari Bomani	3 episodes
2010	Black Panther	Black Panther (voice)	6 episodes
2016	Wayward Pines	CJ Mitchum	Television series

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2004	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	In America	Nominated
2007	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Blood Diamond	Nominated
2004	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	In America	Won
2007	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Blood Diamond	Won
2007	Broadcast Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor	Blood Diamond	Nominated
1998	Golden Globes Awards	Best Actor-Drama	Amistad	Nominated
2004	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Male	In America	Won
1998	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Amistad	Won
2004	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor	In America	Nominated
2007	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor	Blood Diamond	Won
2006	National Board of Review	Best Supporting Actor	Blood Diamond	Won
2001	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Gladiator	Nominated
2004	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	In America	Nominated
2007	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Blood Diamond	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]