Mahershala Ali
Born: 1974-02-16 in Oakland, California, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
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.
Filmography
2027
- Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
2025
- Jurassic World Rebirth as Duncan Kincaid
- Jurassic World Rebirth: The Making of a New Era as Self
2023
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
- Leave the World Behind as G.H. Scott
- Chimp Empire as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Stand as Self - Actor
2021
- INVINCIBLE as Titan (voice)
- Eternals as Eric Brooks / Blade (voice) (uncredited)
- Swan Song as Cameron Turner
- Amend: The Fight for America as Self
2020
- Between the World and Me
- A World of Calm as Narrator
- We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest ... (Executive Producer)
2019
- Alita: Battle Angel as Vector
- Waves ... (Thanks)
- Ramy as Sheikh Ali Malik
2018
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as Uncle Aaron (voice)
- Green Book as Dr. Don Shirley
2017
- Roxanne Roxanne as Cross
- Room 104 as Franco
- Adnis as Adnis
2016
- Hidden Figures as Jim Johnson
- Marvel's Luke Cage as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes
- Kicks as Marlon
- Free State of Jones as Moses Washington
- Moonlight as Juan
- Race for the White House as Narrator
- Gubagude Ko as Ochoro
2015
2014
- True Detective as Wayne Hays
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 as Boggs
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- Supremacy as Deputy Rivers
2013
- House of Cards as Remy Danton
- The Place Beyond the Pines as Kofi Kancam
- Go for Sisters as Dez
2012
- Alcatraz as Clarence Montgomery
2011
- Alphas as Nathan Clay
2010
- Predators as Mombasa
- The Wronged Man as Calvin Willis
- Predators: Moments of Extraction as Mombasa (voice)
2009
- Lie to Me as Detective Hughes
- Crossing Over as Detective Strickland
- The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button as Self
2008
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Tizzy Weathers
- Stand Up to Cancer as Self
- Umi's Heart as Ezra
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
2004
- The 4400 as Richard Tyler
2003
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- Threat Matrix as Jelani Harper
- Taste the Revolution as Mac Laslow
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
1973
1953
- The Oscars as Self - Presenter