Saint Mary's College, California (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation
Actor
Years active
2001–present
Spouse
Amatus Sami-Karim
(m. 2013)
Children
1
Awards
Full list
Mahershala Ali (/məˈhɜːrʃələ/mə-HUR-shə-lə;[1] born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019,[2] and in 2020, The New York Times ranked him among the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century.[3]
After pursuing an MFA degree from New York University, Ali began his career as a regular on television series Crossing Jordan (2001–02) and Threat Matrix (2003–04), before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science fiction series The 4400 (2004–07). His first major film role was in the David Fincher-directed fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). He gained wider attention for supporting roles in the final two films of the original The Hunger Games film series, and in House of Cards, for which he received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Ali won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as a drug dealer in the drama Moonlight (2016) and as Don Shirley in the comedy-drama film Green Book (2018). He is the first Black actor to win two Academy Awards in the same category, and the second Black actor to win multiple acting Oscars.[4] Ali won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program for executive producing We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest (2020).
In 2019, he played a troubled police officer in the third season of the HBO anthology crime series True Detective and in 2020, he starred in the second season of the Hulu comedy-drama series Ramy. He was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for both performances. Ali has also played Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in the first season of the Netflix series Luke Cage (2016), and voiced Aaron Davis in the animated films Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
^"Mahershala Ali Breaks Down His Career, from 'Moonlight' to 'Swan Song' | Vanity Fair". YouTube. Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A.O. (November 25, 2020). "The 25 greatest actors of the 21st century (so far)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^Yglesias, Matthew (February 24, 2019). "Oscars 2019 milestones: Black Panther and Roma broke boundaries". Vox. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
MahershalaAli (/məˈhɜːrʃələ/ mə-HUR-shə-lə; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades...
performed by Cassandra Wilson from her 1995 album New Moon Daughter. MahershalaAli plays the lead role of detective Wayne Hays, while Stephen Dorff plays...
MahershalaAli has received numerous awards and nominations throughout his career, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Film Award, a Golden Globe Award...
Empire is a Netflix television series about chimpanzees, narrated by MahershalaAli. Set in the Uganda's Ngogo rainforest, it follows the lives of rival...
murder of a corrupt politician. The third season aired in 2019, starring MahershalaAli, Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff, Scoot McNairy, and Ray Fisher. It takes...
film written and directed by Michael Larnell. It stars Chanté Adams, MahershalaAli, Nia Long, Elvis Nolasco, Kevin Phillips, and Shenell Edmonds. The film...
three separate time periods. In 1980, partner detectives Wayne Hays (MahershalaAli) and Roland West (Stephen Dorff) investigate a macabre crime involving...
supporting cast includes Eva Mendes, with Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, MahershalaAli, Bruce Greenwood, Harris Yulin, and Ray Liotta. Cianfrance was inspired...
was dramatized in the 2018 film Green Book, in which he was played by MahershalaAli. Shirley was born on January 29, 1927, in Pensacola, Florida, to Jamaican...
the 1960s by African American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley (MahershalaAli) and Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian American bouncer...
portraying the character Claire Temple in the other Marvel Netflix series. MahershalaAli and Erik LaRay Harvey also star in the first season, while Gabrielle...
mistakenly announced as the winner—as well as Best Supporting Actor for MahershalaAli. La La Land won six awards, the most for the evening, out of its record-tying...
Race. Other stars include Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, MahershalaAli, Aldis Hodge, and Glen Powell. Principal photography began in March...
in The Fantastic Four (2025) as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic and MahershalaAli is set to headline Blade (2025) as Blade. Multiple other cast members...