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10 Actors Who Played Famous Africans

10 Actors Who Played Famous Africans

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Some of these actors won Oscars or Oscar nominations playing famous African politicians, public figures, or ordinary people who became famous. Others…not so much. Good performances or bad, here are 10 actors who played famous Africans.

Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org

totallyfreakingawesome.weebly.com
totallyfreakingawesome.weebly.com

Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela

In Clint Eastwood’s 2009 film “Invictus,” Morgan Freeman plays former South African prisoner-turned-President Nelson Mandela. The film covers a significant, rarely-explored time in South African history after Mandela became leader of a country still divided by post-apartheid racism. Freeman enlists Matt Damon’s character to take the national rugby team to the championships in an Oscar-nominated performance as a leader trying to unify a country.

thenightporter.tripod.com
thenightporter.tripod.com

Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Rameses II

Say what you will about the sprawling, often tiring 1956 classic “The Ten Commandments,” you’re bound to flip through it after Easter dinner every year. Yul Brynner, the Russian-born Oscar winner, played Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II with bellowing assurance. He was the nemesis of Charlton Heston’s Moses. In a film rife with religious zeal and argued historical inaccuracies, Brynner’s deep voice and fierce stare are hard to forget.

rogerebert.com
rogerebert.com

Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina

One of the most startling, moving films to chronicle the Rwandan genocide, “Hotel Rwanda” (2004) takes us a dark period — the murder of 20 percent of Rwanda’s population, and roughly 70 percent of the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994. Don Cheadle, already an accomplished American actor, showed fierce tenacity as Rusesabagina, the real-life hotel owner who sheltered more than 1,000 Hutu and Tutsi in his resort’s compound. Supported by Sophie Okonedo as his wife Tatiana, Cheadle received an Oscar nod.

heart.co.uk
heart.co.uk

Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandela

A near-disaster on all fronts from the production to the release, the 2011 film “Winnie” is worth noting for Jennifer Hudson’s attempt to play one of South Africa’s most controversial political figures, First Lady Winnie Mandela. Making $80,000 in international sales, and receiving a giant red stamp of disapproval by Winnie Mandela herself, the film came and went virtually unnoticed. Try it on for size if you will: Hudson underscores Mandela’s activism, her time in solitary confinement, her lengthy banishment, and her fierce loyalty to her husband. Another actress arguably was more successful stepping into Winnie’s skin two years later…keep reading.

theluxuryspot.com
theluxuryspot.com

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra

If you haven’t burst out laughing yet….yes, the infamous film and the infamous performance make this list. In 1963, Hollywood threw almost $44 million (more than $320 million by today’s standards) into this film’s production, nearly driving 20th Century Fox into the hole. Taylor received a record $7 million on account of production delays. Her emergency tracheotomy scar is visible in some of the film’s scenes! Too long and too lavish, the film is still somehow considered a novelty item. It signaled the start of a very public affair with Richard Burton on the set. Taylor had more than 65 costume changes. She’s never been more beautiful or iconic.

pghcitypaper.com
pghcitypaper.com

Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin

Sometimes, the closer we get to evil, the more we’d like to see it’s inner workings. Whitaker, acclaimed over the decades for his acting and directing in American cinema, reached the zenith of his career (and grabbed an Oscar) in “The Last King of Scotland,” playing the vicious, unrelenting Ugandan dictator responsible for the deaths of thousands of his citizens in the 1970s. His foil is James MacAvoy, as a Scottish doctor who becomes Amin’s personal medical man and unlikely confidant. Whitaker sputters, seethes, and laughs, representing all the faces of Amin that are present even in actual footage.

independent.co.uk
independent.co.uk

Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela

Just before Nelson Mandela died, a tepidly-acclaimed film based upon Madiba’s memoirs was released: “Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom.” British-Sierra Leonean actor Idris Elba, a formidable presence known for his range in TV shows “The Wire” and “Luther,” took a stab at the role, and most think he nailed it. Following Mandela in a series of flashbacks from his early childhood to his years as a lawyer in Johannesburg, to his anti-apartheid activism and 27-year imprisonment, Elba is in almost every frame, and his efforts are worth a gander.

draketalkoakland.com
draketalkoakland.com

Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela

Here’s an actress who may benefit from her breakout performance opposite Idris in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” Naomie Harris almost steals the thunder from Elba in every scene as Mandela’s wife. First a right-hand girl, we see her become fervent, angry, and militant in her fight against the apartheid movement while Mandela becomes thoughtful and peaceful during his prison term. Many have argued that this performance is the most accuarte, showing the dichotomy of Winnie that makes her one of South Africa’s most divisive figures.

censurageek.com.br
censurageek.com.br

Djimon Hounsou as Sengbe Pieh

Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film, “Amistad,” chronicles the trial behind a revolt on board the infamous slave ship. Djimon Hounsou made his mark on the world of art with his role. Born in Benin, Hounsou moved to Paris, living as a vagabond before he started modeling and acting. Sengbe Pieh of the West African Mende people (aka Joseph Cinque), led the mutiny on board, killing its captain and cook. In the groundbreaking 1840 United States vs. The Amistad trial, Cinque and his fellow captors were ruled as justified in their uprising, as they were kidnapped free men. Hounsou’s repetition of the phrase, “Give us, us free!” is a nerve-chilling moment.

amazon.com
amazon.com

Jeanne Crain as Nefertiti

Another near-farce to make some popcorn and either laugh or swoon over, “Nefertiti, Regina del Nilo” (Queen of the Nile) is an Italian-made 1961 sword-and-sandal epic that has gained a cult following over the decades. Playing the legendary Egyptian queen, Crain is beautiful and strangely iconic. Also featuring Vincent Price, this film is worth hunting for and experiencing for its out-dated yet spellbinding quality.