Barkhad Abdi went from acting alongside Tom Hanks to returning to the counter of a phone store.
His salary for playing Muse, the pirate leader in ‘Captain Phillips,’ was reportedly 65.000 dollars. It was his first film role. When filming ended, he returned to work at his brother’s store in Minneapolis and only left that job around the film’s release, in 2013, to pursue acting.
His performance earned him an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA award. But in the middle of the 2014 awards season, reports described him as having financial problems: critical acclaim had arrived before a steady income.
The statuette may have eluded him, but industry applause didn’t pay the bills. How many acclaimed talents are still waiting for recognition to turn into work? 🎬