Mahershala Ali
Mahershala Ali (/məˈhɜːrʃələ/ mə-HUR-shə-lə; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, 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, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked him among the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century. 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 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. 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). Description above from the Wikipedia article Mahershala Ali, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Jurassic World Rebirth as Duncan Kincaid
- 2023 · Leave the World Behind as G.H. Scott
- 2023 · Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
- 2023 · Chimp Empire as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · Stand as Self - Actor
- 2021 · Swan Song as Cameron Turner
- 2021 · Eternals as Eric Brooks / Blade (voice) (uncredited)
- 2021 · INVINCIBLE as Titan (voice)
- 2021 · Amend: The Fight for America as Self
- 2020 · Between the World and Me as
- 2020 · A World of Calm as Narrator
- 2019 · Alita: Battle Angel as Vector
- 2018 · Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
- 2018 · Green Book as Dr. Don Shirley
- 2017 · Room 104 as Franco
- 2017 · Roxanne Roxanne as Cross
- 2016 · Hidden Figures as Jim Johnson
- 2016 · Moonlight as Juan
- 2016 · Marvel's Luke Cage as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes
- 2016 · The Realest Real as The Minister
- 2016 · Gubagude Ko as Ochoro
- 2015 · The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 as Boggs
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 as Boggs
- 2014 · True Detective as Wayne Hays
- 2013 · House of Cards as Remy Danton
- 2012 · Alcatraz as Clarence Montgomery
- 2011 · Alphas as Nathan Clay
- 2010 · Predators as Mombasa
- 2009 · Lie to Me as Detective Hughes
- 2008 · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Tizzy Weathers
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2004 · The 4400 as Richard Tyler
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- 2001 · Crossing Jordan as Trey Sanders
- 2000 · CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Tombs' Security Guard
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Mark Foster
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self - Presenter
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self - Best Supporting Actor winner
- Future · Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
- 2019 · Ramy as Sheikh Ali Malik
- 2016 · Kicks as Marlon
- 2016 · Free State of Jones as Moses Washington
- 2016 · Race for the White House as Narrator
- 2015 · The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 as Self (Boggs)
- 2014 · Supremacy as Deputy Rivers
- 2013 · Go for Sisters as Dez
- 2013 · The Place Beyond the Pines as Kofi Kancam
- 2010 · Predators: Moments of Extraction as Mombasa (Voice)
- 2010 · Predators: The Chosen as Mombasa
- 2010 · The Wronged Man as Calvin Willis
- 2008 · Stand Up to Cancer as Self
- 2003 · Threat Matrix as Jelani Harper
- Future · Blade as Eric Brooks / Blade
- 2009 · The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button as Self
- 2009 · Crossing Over as Detective Strickland
- Future · The Personal History of Rachel DuPree as Isaac Dupree
- Future · The Plot as Jake
- Future · Wildwood as Brenden (voice)
- Future · All Signs of Death as Gabe
- Future · 77 Blackout as
- 2008 · Umi's Heart as Ezra
- 2003 · Taste the Revolution as Mac Laslow