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).
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Acted in
Jurassic World Rebirth
2025
as Duncan Kincaid
Leave the World Behind
2023
as G.H. Scott
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2023
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
Chimp Empire
2023
as Narrator (voice)
Stand
2023
as Self - Actor
Swan Song
2021
as Cameron Turner
Eternals
2021
as Eric Brooks / Blade (voice) (uncredited)
INVINCIBLE
2021
as Titan (voice)
Between the World and Me
2020
A World of Calm
2020
as Narrator
Ramy
2019
as Sheikh Ali Malik
Alita: Battle Angel
2019
as Vector
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
Green Book
2018
as Dr. Don Shirley
Room 104
2017
as Franco
Roxanne Roxanne
2017
as Cross
Hidden Figures
2016
as Jim Johnson
Moonlight
2016
as Juan
Marvel's Luke Cage
2016
as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes
The Realest Real
2016
as The Minister
Kicks
2016
as Marlon
Free State of Jones
2016
as Moses Washington
Gubagude Ko
2016
as Ochoro
Race for the White House
2016
as Narrator
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
2015
as Boggs
The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
2015
as Self (Boggs)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
2014
as Boggs
Supremacy
2014
as Deputy Rivers
True Detective
2014
as Wayne Hays
Go for Sisters
2013
as Dez
The Place Beyond the Pines
2013
as Kofi Kancam
House of Cards
2013
as Remy Danton
Alcatraz
2012
as Clarence Montgomery
Alphas
2011
as Nathan Clay
Predators: Moments of Extraction
2010
as Mombasa (Voice)
Predators: The Chosen
2010
as Mombasa
The Wronged Man
2010
as Calvin Willis
Predators
2010
as Mombasa
The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
2009
as Self
Crossing Over
2009
as Detective Strickland
Lie to Me
2009
as Detective Hughes
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008
as Tizzy Weathers
Umi's Heart
2008
as Ezra
Stand Up to Cancer
2008
as Self
The 4400
2004
as Richard Tyler
Threat Matrix
2003
as Jelani Harper
Taste the Revolution
2003
as Mac Laslow
Crossing Jordan
2001
as Trey Sanders
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
as Tombs' Security Guard
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Mark Foster
The Oscars
1953
as Self - Presenter
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self - Best Supporting Actor winner
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
Blade
as Eric Brooks / Blade
Wildwood
as Brenden (voice)
77 Blackout
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
as Isaac Dupree
All Signs of Death
as Gabe
The Plot
as Jake