MAHERSHALA ALI is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wide-ranging background in film, television, and theater. This past fall, Ali wrapped A's Brad Pitt and Adele Romanski produced independent feature film, Moonlight, as well as reprised his role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part , the fourth and final installment in the critically and commercially acclaimed Hunger Games franchise, alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and Julianne Moore. As District 's Head of Security, 'Boggs' through the final stages of the district's rebellion against the Capitol. Lionsgate released the film on November , . Ali will next star in Gary Ross's civil war era drama The Free State of Jones opposite Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Keri Russell. STX Entertainment will release the film on May , . On television, Ali was recently cast in Netflix and Marvel Entertainment's Luke Cage in the role of Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes. A Harlem nightclub owner, Stokes will become an unexpected foe in Luke's life when Stokes' criminal activities threaten Luke's world. Ali stars alongside Mike Colter, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard. The series will premiere on Netflix in . Ali can be seen on the award-winning Netflix original series House of Cards, where he will reprise his fan-favorite role as lobbyist and former press secretary Remy Danton for a fourth season in March . Ali's previous feature film credits include Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines opposite Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over starring Harrison Ford, John Sayles' Go For Sisters, and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. On television, he appeared opposite Julia Ormond in Lifetime's The Wronged Man for which he subsequently received a NAACP Nomination for Best Actor. Ali also had a large recurring role on Syfy's Alphas, as well as the role of Richard Tyler, a Korean War pilot, on the critically acclaimed drama The for three seasons. On the stage, Ali appeared in productions of Blues for an Alabama Sky, The School for Scandal, A Lie of the Mind, A Doll's House, Monkey in the Middle, The Merchant of Venice, The New Place and Secret Injury, Secret Revenge. His additional stage credits include appearing in Washington, D.C. at the Arena Stage in the title role of The Great White Hope, and in The Long Walk and Jack and Jill. In February , Ali will make his New York Broadway debut in Kenny Leon's Smart People, starring opposite Joshua Jackson. Born in Oakland, California and raised in Hayward, Ali received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications at St. Mary's College. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. Soon after, he earned his Master's degree in acting from New York University's prestigious graduate program.
Received his bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from St. Marys College in Moraga, California.
The name "Mahershalalhashbaz" is from the Book of Isaiah (chapter 8, verse 3) in the Hebrew Bible. It is the longest proper name (ordered by God to be given to the newborn prophets son) that appears in the bible and is, in fact, a combination of four words: "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz," meaning "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!".
Is a respected rapper in the hip hop community, having collaborated and performed with notable artists such as Talib Kweli, Planet Asia, Keith Murray, and others.
Received his MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Ali has twice played the father to children with unusual (supernatural) aging issues: as Richard Tyler in "The 4400" , his characters daughter, Isabelle, goes from infancy to adulthood in a single episode, and as Tizzy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , he plays the adoptive father of a child who is born old and ages backwards.
He is the son of Willicia (Goines) and Phillip F. Gilmore. His father has acted and his mother is a Christian minister. Raised a Christian, Ali later converted to Islam.
As of 2017, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , Moonlight and Hidden Figures . Of those, Moonlight is a winner in the category.
Revealed during his SAG Award speech in 2017 that he is a Muslim and converted to Islam 17 years earlier. He also mentioned in the same speech that his mother is an ordained minister.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 43 when his wife Amatus Sami-Karim gave birth to their daughter Bari Najma Ali on February 22, 2017.
His Oscar win for Moonlight marked the first time a Muslim actor won an Academy Award.
Won his first Academy Award only four days after becoming a father for the first time in February 2017.
I have had that same experience where there are several people who have,come up in my life at the right time and have made critical,contributions to how I see the world and how I see myself.
Your life, your circumstances change, and you have to continue to grow,as a person, and once you have means and opportunity, you have to make,different choices to protect what you have.
My friends in college, several of whom are still my closest companions,would tell you that I was almost obsessed with becoming - fixated on,creating - the future that I envisioned for myself: one of expanding to,know my fullest self, which I have in no way achieved.
Understand that we are all co-creators of our respective destinies.
I do believe that there are creative chakras or different sorts of,energy centers.
Social media has colonized what was once a sacred space occupied by,emptiness: the space reserved for thought and creativity.
There are not enough going into production so that we can tout them.
I watch a lot of home stuff; I like seeing things go from one thing to,another and get fixed up.
You want entertainment in general, every aspect of it, to be more of a,reflection of the diverse world that we live in.
To get to play someone who was in some capacity the King of Harlem, that,meant something to me. Deep within my bones. I was inspired by the,energy that I knew to be a real thing.
Cultures and races are mixing in a very organic way in the world, and,that should be reflected in film and television.
Marvel has such a huge slice of the pie.
The call for diversity is about recognizing that in order to be in the,conversation come awards season, it goes back to the content that is,being produced.
I believe that everything has a shelf life.
The people that I admire have a wonderful balance of self-belief and,humility.
I always hope to be a better person tomorrow than today.
In thinking about it, the villains often have a little bit more range,because their morality is different. You can have just a really good,time as an actor, and there is just more there that you can explore on,that side of the story.
Hollywood has to be a better reflection of the world we live in.
I think #OscarsSoWhite is about there not truly being enough people of,color represented.
As young people, you want to see people who in some way look like you to,some degree, because it makes it a little easier for you to aspire to,take on the qualities of those people.
The more you work and get known for something, sometimes things begin to,narrow a bit, and your opportunities get more. . . specific.
There are so many women who contributed in a very real way in pushing,for the space program during the time in which there was a lot of,competition to get into space first, and to know that there were,African-American women who were integral in that success is pretty,phenomenal.
Kids feel like they have to puff up or shrink. These reclusive qualities,begin to develop because you feel that who you are is going to either,be accepted or rejected by your family and friends.
Like, I knew that; we never had a black president.
Family are the people that can hurt you the most.
I know someone from growing up who is in jail right now for the rest of,his life, but he was one of the sweetest people I ever knew.
I grew up on a wide range of stuff. OutKast, they been around for over,20 years, and some of the L. A. cats like Defari, Dilated Peoples and,Likwit Crew. I was always going to these shows and catching the KRS-One,tennis ball, as he would throw those out, EPMD. I could go on and on.
Oakland, by far, is really gorgeous; it still has these pockets that are,really dangerous. Certain things are kind of normal. I think kids out,there can be tested in a way where his right of passage ties into a bit,of violence and how that has become these markers in masculinity and,you being kind of validated after having to pass through things.
At an earlier age, I was kind of into a pretty large scope or range of,music from Hieroglyphics and the Hobo Junction guys and all that to,like a lot of stuff that was in New York like Diamond D, Nas, Brand,Nubian, of course Biggie, OC, Organized Confusion, Tribe Called Quest,De La Soul, Digable Planets, who I just saw recently, and they killed,it.
I think Don Cheadle has always done great work.
I really love Tom Hardy. He makes really interesting choices.
I think selfishly, as an actor, we always want to do more.
My dream role is Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion.
I was a sports kid.
Social media has colonized what was once a sacred space occupied by emptiness: the space reserved for thought and creativity.
My parents were in high school when I was born. My mom was 16, my dad was 17. They were kids, at the very beginning of coming into their own and finding themselves.
