Last Sunday night, Barkhad Abdi, the Somali American actor who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in captain Phillips was mixing with the great and the good of Hollywood at the Oscars. The movie was the 28-year-old's film debut for which he was paid $65,000 for starring in the picture.
He left his job in his brother's mobile phone store when he got the gig, but now two years on, the money is spent and with no definite offers of work in the pipelines, he is completely broke.
Despite receiving supporting actor nominations not just at the Oscars but the Golden Globes, SAG and even winning a BAFTA Award, all the accolades in the world simply do not come with cash.
The New Yorker reported that the former limo driver was living off the glitzy glamor while in Los Angeles for the awards season.
Instead of staying at the posh Beverly Hilton hotel, he chose instead to stay near the airport so that he could be near a friend who could drive him around for free. Abdi's also rented his tux on Sunday night. Although he is still living in Minnesota, he is planning to move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career in earnest.
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| ABDI PICTURED IN A RENTED FERRARI |
He’s broke, apart from a weekly allowance that the studio provides and a car which he can use for official events only.This for an actor that was quick enough to improvise the now famous 'I'm the captain now' line in the film Abdi has said that he is not a big spender. At this stage, he can't afford to be.
'I never pictured myself as a famous person. I like the essence of film making and storytelling. The fame part, I'm just trying to take it easy,' he told ABC News. 'I'm not big into buying stuff, I'm a simple guy,' he said. 'I bought a car, not that big name of a car, a Saab. I'm not into big name stuff.'
Adibi was a frequent guest on the talk show circuit during awards season, and also did several print and online interviews.
His Best Support Actor nomination put him up against Hollywood regulars Bradley Cooper, Michael Fassbender, Jared Leto, and Jonah Hill
Prior to his role in Captain Phillips he was a limo driver in Minneapolis before taking working at his brother's T-Mobile shop in the 24 Mall following the nine weeks of filming.
Abdi was born in Mogadishu and moved to Minneapolis in Minnesota when he was 14.
He was working as a limousine driver and also part-time at his brother's cellphone store before he won the career-making role in Paul Greengrass's movie.
After filming, he was forced to return to work selling mobile phones, but decided to quit when the movie was released.
'How I thought about it was, like, when the movie came out, reviews either gonna be good or bad,' Abdi said to The New Yorker.
'Either way, I cannot be working here.'
Captain Phillips was nominated for a total of six Oscars, including best film, but did not take any prizes at Sunday night's ceremony. It has so far made more than $217m at the box office against a budget of $55m.
Abdi says he hasn't seen any bonuses or extra paychecks despite the film's success.
'It’s been a really wild ride. Every time it gets bigger and bigger and bigger and now it’s an Oscar nomination. It’s just a little too big to comprehend. But that’s life. I’m just looking forward to the next adventure.'
Happy to post pictures of his new Hollywood chums, ranging from Reese Witherspoon to Kevin Space and Sacha Baron Cohen - and even happier to zoom around LA in a Ferrar, Barkhad still says he hasn't gone all Hollywood and hired a stylist or acting coach.
Abdi is now in talks to star in a film about South African runner Willie Mtolo, who competed in the 1992 New York marathon.
The film called The Place That Hits the Sun is about a Marathon runner who develops an unlikely friendship with a local bar owner, once sanctions against South African athletes competing internationally were lifted.
Speaking about a future in acting, he said: 'Yeah, I want to keep on doing it... any role, as long as it’s a good story, it doesn’t matter ... I'm moving to L.A. and I’m reading some scripts now, specifically there’s a TV show that I’m reading for.'
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