Another Ancient Story For Hounsou

In the highly anticipated film Gladiator, Djimon Hounsou plays Juba, a slave who is the confidant and ally of a Roman soldier turned gladiator, played by Russell Crowe, who's engaged in an elaborate revenge scheme.

Of course, the movie is packed with fight scenes, which at times include as many as 6,000 extras. As Hounsou says, that's a lot of biceps.

"For the fight scenes at the coliseum, we had 6,000 extras," he recalls. "Every morning, we would come in and salute them. They were very energetic, and we had no problem feeding off the crowd."

But he also thinks the movie has a deeper message for the audience, "the sense of family values that were portrayed in the film, the sense of loyalty, respect and honor, you know, and all those elements are what makes the code of living."

The 36-year-old actor grew up in France. At one point, he was homeless, living out of his car when he was discovered as a model. He moved to the U.S. shortly thereafter and did a couple of music videos.

"I have dreamed many times that I wanted to be an entertainer," he says. "That was the understanding: I wanted to be an entertainer and…at first, I couldn't speak English. I had to go through a process of learning and putting into drama school."

After a series of small film roles, he was seemingly plucked from obscurity by producer Debbie Allen and director Steven Spielberg to portray Joseph Cinque, the leader of a slave ship mutiny, in Amistad.

The film had tremendous hype but received lukewarm reviews. Hounsou received critical acclaim, a Golden Globe nomination and a NAACP Image award for the role.

He made a bit of a splash, appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair's 1998 Hollywood issue and in a recurring role on the TV drama series ER last year.

But he found himself turning down the big-screen roles he was offered.

"They didn't know what to do with me next," he recalls, adding that he had big expectations after Amistad.

He says he feels better prepared for the success of Gladiator.

"It's not just an action picture. It also has a story behind it," explains the actor.