Oscar-Nominated “Captain Phillips” Star Struggling to Support Himself
Published at
ABC/Randy Holmes(NEW YORK) — Captain Phillips actor Barkhad Abdi hasn’t exactly profited from his star turn as a Somali pirate in the film, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
A New Yorker profile on Abdi states that he is struggling to support himself. It reads in part, “When Abdi is in Los Angeles to promote the film, he subsists on a per diem, good at the Beverly Hilton, where the studio likes to put him up. The town car is available only for official publicity events. His clothes are loaners.”
The article further notes that Abdi requested that he be allowed to stay at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport to be near a friend, a Somali cab driver from Minneapolis, who “shuttles him around for free.”
The Somalia-born Abdi was a limo driver in Minneapolis before scoring his first-ever film role, in Captain Phillips. He reportedly was paid $65,000 for his performance.
According to The New Yorker, Abdi planned to move to Los Angeles and live with Captain Phillips co-star Faysal Ahmed after the Oscars.
The Hollywood Reporter recently said that Abdi is in talks to star in a drama titled The Place That Hits The Sun, about a South African marathon runner.
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio