Acting · Oakland, California, USA · Born February 16, 1974
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.
MovieSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
2027
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
MovieWildwood
2026
as Brenden (voice)
MovieYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother
2026
as Latif
TVTask
2025
as Eddie Barnes
MovieJurassic World Rebirth: The Making of a New Era
2025
as Self
MovieJurassic World Rebirth
2025
as Duncan Kincaid
MovieLeave the World Behind
2023
as G.H. Scott
MovieSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2023
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
TVChimp Empire
2023
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieStand
2023
as Self - Actor
MovieSwan Song
2021
as Cameron Turner
MovieEternals
2021
as Eric Brooks / Blade (voice) (uncredited)
TVINVINCIBLE
2021
as Titan (voice)
TVAmend: The Fight for America
2021
as Self
MovieBetween the World and Me
2020
TVA World of Calm
2020
as Narrator
TVRamy
2019
as Sheikh Ali Malik
MovieAlita: Battle Angel
2019
as Vector
MovieSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
MovieGreen Book
2018
as Dr. Don Shirley
MovieAdnis
2017
as Adnis
TVRoom 104
2017
as Franco
MovieRoxanne Roxanne
2017
as Cross
MovieHidden Figures
2016
as Jim Johnson
MovieMoonlight
2016
as Juan
TVMarvel's Luke Cage
2016
as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes
MovieKicks
2016
as Marlon
MovieFree State of Jones
2016
as Moses Washington
Gubagude Ko
2016
as Ochoro
TVRace for the White House
2016
as Narrator
MovieThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
2015
as Boggs
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self
TVClose Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
as Self
MovieThe Mockingjay Lives: The Making of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
2015
as Self - Boggs
TVVariety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014
as Self
MovieThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
2014
as Boggs
MovieSupremacy
2014
as Deputy Rivers
TVTrue Detective
2014
as Wayne Hays
MovieGo for Sisters
2013
as Dez
MovieThe Place Beyond the Pines
2013
as Kofi Kancam
TVHouse of Cards
2013
as Remy Danton
TVAlcatraz
2012
as Clarence Montgomery
TVAlphas
2011
as Nathan Clay
MoviePredators: Moments of Extraction
2010
as Mombasa (voice)
MovieThe Wronged Man
2010
as Calvin Willis
MoviePredators
2010
as Mombasa
MoviePredators: The Chosen
2010
MovieThe Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
2009
as Self
MovieCrossing Over
2009
as Detective Strickland
TVLie to Me
2009
as Detective Hughes
MovieThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008
as Tizzy Weathers
MovieUmi's Heart
2008
as Ezra
TVStand Up to Cancer
2008
as Self
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
TVThe 4400
2004
as Richard Tyler
TVThreat Matrix
2003
as Jelani Harper
MovieTaste the Revolution
2003
as Mac Laslow
TVJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self
TVCrossing Jordan
2001
as Trey Sanders
TVCSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
as Tombs' Security Guard
TVLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Mark Foster
TVThe View
1997
as Self
TVThe Daily Show
1996
as Self
TVThe American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self - Presenter
77 Blackout
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
as Isaac Dupree
All Signs of Death
as Gabe
Driver
