Role Call

Amistad: Andrew Cooper

Djimon Hounsou

PREMISE Hounsou is Cinque, leader of a real-life mutiny aboard the slave ship Amistad. Jailed upon reaching America and defended by former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins), Cinque takes his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

FUN FACT One of the nine Justices in the film was played by retired Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.

WHY IT'S GREAT In his breakthrough role, Hounsou is fierce and magnetic, whether he's impaling a sadistic sailor with his sword or pleading in court in pidgin English: ''Give us free!''