Hollywood has “visited” Rwanda several times.
Nevertheless, though some of those stars in the world’s largest film industry
have visited the country more than once, very few Rwandans have had the chance
to see them.
Danny Glover, Edward Norton, Ashley Judd, Natalie
Portman, Alfre Woodard, Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon are some of the A-Listers
that have made the great trek to Rwanda.
However, it is possible that Damon was attracted to
Rwanda through his close friend and former campus roommate Ben Affleck, a
frequent visitor to the country.
While each of these celebrities has had noble reasons
for visiting, we cannot attempt to have explanations for the pulling power of
Rwanda. After all, the country has been described as the ‘Land of a Thousand
Hills’ and a replica of rebuilding the stability from near annihilation.
For all these accolades, some of these celebrities have
become common figures in the country, with the aim to start projects aimed at
humanitarian work or making documentaries about reconciliation or the survivors
of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
We also have our prized gorillas, Virunga National Park,
Canopy walk in Nyungwe Forest and the clean city, among the main factors that
attract these major figures in the world to contribute to the country’s growth
and security today.
When did these celebrities visit Rwanda?
Angelina Jolie
Oscar-winning actress, Angelina Jolie has just concluded
her two-day visit in the country. Jolie was visiting Rwanda in her capacity as
the UNHCR goodwill ambassador.
Jolie, 38, is an American actress and film director. She
has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden
Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009
and 2011.
Hollywood A-lister and mother of six with partner Brad
Pitt, promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for her work with refugees as
a Special Envoy and former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
She has often
been cited as the world’s “most beautiful” woman, a title for which she has
received substantial media attention.
Danny Glover
Hollywood star and human rights activist Danny Glover
visited the country in 2009 for the closing night of the 6th annual Rwanda Film
Festival.
Danny Lebern Glover, born July 22, 1946, is an American
actor, film director and political activist. Glover is well known for his roles
as Mr. Albert Johnson in “The Color Purple”, as Michael Harrigan in “Predator
2”, as corrupt cop James “McFee in Witness” and as Detective Sergeant Roger
Murtaugh in the “Lethal Weapon.”
He has also appeared in many other movies, television
shows, and theatrical productions. Glover is an active supporter of various
humanitarian and political causes.
Ashley Judd
American actress, Ashley Judd visited the country in
2011. While in Rwanda, the actress and PSI Board of Directors Member, visited
several programs run by the International NGO Population Services International
(PSI), including the launch of Eau Sur, a water purifying solution in Rubavu
district, Western Province.
Ashley Judd, born April 19, 1968, is an American
television and film actress and political activist. Judd grew up in a family of
successful performing artists as the daughter of country music singer Naomi
Judd and the half-sister of Wynonna Judd.
While she is best known for an ongoing acting career
spanning more than two decades, she has increasingly become involved in global
humanitarian efforts and political activism.
Judd has played lead roles in films including “Ruby in
Paradise”, “Norma Jean & Marilyn”, “Kiss the Girls”, “Double Jeopardy” and
“Where the Heart Is”. She also starred as Rebecca Winstone in the television
series “Missing” in 2012.
Edward Norton
UN Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity, Edward Norton
visited Rwanda in 2011, where he met with then Prime Minister Bernard Makuza
and other senior government officials. He has starred in movies like The
Incredible Hulk, Fight Club and The Italian Job, among others.
Alfre Woodard
Emmy Award winner Alfre Woodard visited Rwanda in 2011,
with a delegation of nine Hollywood stars at the official opening of Kwetu Film
Institute (KFI).
Alfre Ette Woodard, born November 8, 1952, is an
American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for
an Academy Award and Grammy Award, 17 times for the Emmy Award (winning four),
and has also won a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She
has starred in films like Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys, Love and
Basketball, Steel Magnolias and Radio.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon and a team from ONEXONE– a nonprofit
foundation that supports the work of Millennium Promise, visited Rwanda in 2009
and the Mayange Millennium Village.
While in the country, the team filmed Matt outside a
primary school in the village, in which Matt emphasises the success of the
school meals program towards increasing school enrollment – especially for
girls.
Matthew Paige “Matt” Damon, born October 8, 1970, is an
American actor, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist whose career was launched
following the success of the drama film Good Will Hunting (1997) from a
screenplay he co-wrote with friend and actor Ben Affleck.
Ben Affleck
Actor and activist Ben Affleck’s first visit in the
country was in 2007, when he came to explore investment opportunities for
future business engagements. The actor returned in 2009 and met with various
government officials.
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt, born August 15, 1972,
better known as Ben Affleck, is an American film director, actor, producer, and
screenwriter.
Affleck gained recognition as a director for his
directorial debut Gone Baby Gone (2007) for which he won the National Board of
Review Award for Best Directorial Debut.
Natalie Portman
Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman trekked into the
country’s rainforests in 2007 to film “Saving a Species: Gorillas on the
Brink”, a documentary about endangered mountain gorillas. She was among other
celebrities who participated in the naming of 23 highly endangered baby
mountain gorillas in 2007. She named a baby gorilla “Ahazaza” meaning “future.”
Portman returned in the country in 2008 for the opening
of a youth village for orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,
sponsored by Jewish donors.
Natalie Portman was born Natalie Hershlag on June 9,
1981 in Jerusalem. She is the only child of a doctor father (from Israel) and
an artist mother (from Cincinnati, Ohio), who is also Natalie’s agent.
She was featured in many live performances, but she made
her powerful film debut in the movie Léon: “The Professional”. Following this
role Natalie won roles in such films as Heat (1995), Beautiful Girls and Mars
Attacks!.
She received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award
for Best Actress in Black Swan (2010).
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