Mahershala Ali Biography

Mahershalalhashbaz "Mahershala" Ali Gilmore (n Gilmore; February 16, 1974) is an American actor and rapper. Ali began his career as a regular on series such as Crossing Jordan and Threat Matrix before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science-fiction series The 4400. His first major film release was in the 2008 David Fincher-directed romantic fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and his other notable films include Predators, The Place Beyond the Pines, Free State of Jones, Hidden Figures and as Boggs in The Hunger Games series. Ali is also known for his roles in the Netflix series House of Cards as Remy Danton and as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in Luke Cage.

For his performance as mentor Juan in the drama film Moonlight (2016), Ali received universal acclaim from critics and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the SAG Award and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award nomination. His win at the 89th Academy Awards made him the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.

Early life and education

Ali was born in 1974, in Oakland, California, the son of Willicia and Phillip Gilmore. He was raised in Cleveland, Ohio and returned to Oakland when he was fourteen. He is named after Maher-shalal-hash-baz, a biblical prophetic-name child. Raised Christian by his mother, an ordained minister, he later converted to Islam, changing his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His father appeared on Broadway. He attended St. Mary's College of California (SMC) in Moraga, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication.

Though Ali entered SMC with a basketball scholarship, he became disenchanted with the idea of a sports career because of the treatment given to the team's athletes. Ali developed an interest in acting, particularly after taking part in a staging of Spunk that later landed him an apprenticeship at the California Shakespeare Theater following graduation. Following a sabbatical year where Ali worked for Gavin Report, he enrolled in New York University's graduate acting program, earning his master's degree in 2000.

Career

Acting

Ali was known professionally as Mahershalalhashbaz Ali until 2010. He is known for his portrayal of Remy Danton in the Netflix series House of Cards, Cornell Stokes in Luke Cage, Colonel Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and Tizzy in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

His first major film release was in the 2008 David Fincher-directed romantic fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and his other notable films include Predators, The Place Beyond the Pines, Free State of Jones, Hidden Figures, and as Boggs in The Hunger Games series.

For his performance as mentor and drug dealer Juan in the drama film Moonlight (2016), Ali received universal acclaim from critics and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the SAG Award and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award nomination. His win at the 89th Academy Awards made him the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.

In 2017, it was reported that Ali may be the star of the forthcoming season of the critically acclaimed HBO series True Detective.

Rapping

Ali was signed to Bay Area recording label Hieroglyphics Imperium during the late 2000s and recorded music as Prince Ali. He released his album, Curb Side Service, in 2007 but did not tour to promote the album, choosing instead to focus on his acting career.

Personal life

Ali is a Muslim and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He is married to Amatus-Sami Karim. He named his cat Nas, after the musician.

On February 22, 2017, he and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Bari Najma.

Discography

Studio albums

• Curb Side Service (2007)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Making Revolution	Mac Laslow
2008	Umi's Heart	Ezra	Short film
	'	Tizzy Weathers
2009	Crossing Over	Detective Strickland
2010	Predators	Mombasa
2012	'	Kofi Kancam
2013	Go for Sisters	Dez
2014	Supremacy	Deputy Rivers
	'	Boggs
2015	'	Boggs
2016	Kicks	Marlon
	Gubagude Ko	Ochoro	Short film
	Free State of Jones	Moses Washington
	Moonlight	Juan
	Hidden Figures	Jim Johnson
2017	Roxanne Roxanne	Cross
2018	Alita: Battle Angel	Vector	Post-production
	Untitled animated Spider-Man film	Aaron Davis	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001-02	Crossing Jordan	Dr. Trey Sanders	19 episodes
2002	Haunted	Alex Dalcour	Episode: "Abby"
2002	NYPD Blue	Rashard Coleman	Episode: "Das Boots"
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Tombs' Security Guard	Episode: "Lucky Strike"
2003	'		Episode: "Big Stones"
2003-04	Threat Matrix	Jelani Harper	15 episodes
2004-07	'	Richard Tyler	28 episodes
2009	Lie to Me	Det. Don Hughes	Episode: "Do No Harm"
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mark Foster	Episode: "Unstable"
2010	'	Calvin Willis	Television film
2010	All Signs of Death	Gabe	Unsold TV pilot
2011	Lights Out	Death Row Reynolds	Episode: "Unaired Pilot"
2011-12	Treme	Anthony King	6 episodes
2011-12	Alphas	Nathan Clay	12 episodes
2012	Alcatraz	Clarence Montgomery	Episode: "Clarence Montgomery"
2013-16	House of Cards	Remy Danton	33 episodes
2016	Luke Cage	Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes	7 episodes

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Mahershala Ali
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations