Mahershala Ali
Mahershala Ali was born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on Feb. 16, 1974 in Oakland, CA. He enrolled in St. Mary's College of California on a basketball scholarship, but his passions switched from athletics to acting over the course of his tenure. Following graduation, Ali earned an apprenticeship at the California Shakespeare Theater, and then pursued a Master's degree in acting at New York University. One of Ali's earliest professional roles was that of Dr. Trey Sanders on the series "Crossing Jordan" (NBC 2001-07), shortly after which he starred on "The 4400" (USA 2004-07) as Richard Tyler. Around this time, Ali experimented with a rapping career, releasing the album Curb Side Service (2007) under the stage name Prince Ali. Ali then pursued acting on the big screen; one of his earliest major roles was in David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008), which he followed up with parts in the likes of "Crossing Over" (2009) and "Predators" (2010). Back on television, Ali lent his talents to "Treme" (HBO 2010-13) and "House of Cards" (Netflix 2013-), keeping one foot in the realm of cinema for the likes of "The Place Beyond the Pines" (2012) and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" (2014) and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" (2015) all the while. His name really began to accrue attention as time went on; Ali earned his first ever Oscar nomination and victory thanks to his supporting role in "Moonlight" (2016), in which he played a kindhearted drug dealer and the surrogate father to a young boy hiding his homosexuality. That same year, Ali costarred on the superhero series "Luke Cage" (Netflix, 2016-18) as villain Cottonmouth Stokes. Two years later, Ali starred in the dramatic film "Green Book" (2018) and lent his voice to the animated movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" (2018). Around the same time, Ali was also cast as the lead of the third season of the anthology series "True Detective" (HBO 2014-), and starred in the "Alita: Battle Angel" (2019) feature film.
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Mahershala Ali
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jurassic World Rebirth | Duncan Kincaid (Character) | - | 2025 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Blade | Blade (Character) | - | 2025 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wildwood | Unknown (Voice) | - | 2024 |
74% |
|
Leave the World Behind | G. H. Scott (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet |
|
Stand | Self | - | 2023 |
80% |
|
Swan Song |
Cameron (Character), Producer |
- | 2021 |
61% |
|
Alita: Battle Angel | Vector (Character) | $85.8M | 2019 |
97% |
|
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse |
Uncle Aaron/ |
$190.2M | 2018 |
77% |
|
Green Book | Dr. Donald Shirley (Character) | $85.1M | 2018 |
68% |
|
Roxanne Roxanne | Cross (Character) | - | 2017 |
93% |
|
Hidden Figures | Jim Johnson (Character) | $169.3M | 2016 |
98% |
|
Moonlight | Juan (Character) | $27.9M | 2016 |
85% |
|
Kicks | Marlon (Character) | $145.4K | 2016 |
48% |
|
Free State of Jones | Moses (Character) | $20.8M | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gubagude Ko | Ochoro (Character) | - | 2016 |
70% |
|
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 | Boggs (Character) | $281.7M | 2015 |
69% |
|
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 | Boggs (Character) | - | 2014 |
79% |
|
The Place Beyond the Pines | Kofi (Character) | $21.4M | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Wronged Man | Calvin Willis (Character) | - | 2010 |
65% |
|
Predators | Mombasa (Character) | $52.0M | 2010 |
72% |
|
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Tizzy (Character) | $127.5M | 2008 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
79% | 59% | True Detective | Wayne Hays (Character) | 2019 2024 |
No Score Yet | 42% | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2017 2019 2023 |
100% | 98% | Chimp Empire | Narrator | 2023 |
94% | 83% | Ramy | Sheikh Malik (Character) | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Guest | 2017 2019 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Guest | 2019 2022 |
100% | 88% | Amend: The Fight for America | Self | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A World of Calm | Narrator | 2020 |
No Score Yet | 18% | The Late Late Show With James Corden | Guest | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter | Guest | 2017 2019 |
88% | 54% | Room 104 | Unknown (Character) | 2018 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2018 |
85% | 88% | Comrade Detective | Coach (Guest Voice) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 50% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2016 |
87% | 71% | Marvel's Luke Cage | Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes (Character) | 2016 |
No Score Yet | 81% | Last Week Tonight With John Oliver | Reporter (Guest Star) | 2016 |
77% | 76% | House of Cards |
Remy Danton (Character), Unknown (Guest Star) |
2013-2016 |
81% | 76% | Alphas | Nathan Clay (Guest Star) | 2011-2012 |
97% | 87% | Treme | Anthony King (Guest Star) | 2011-2012 |
60% | 42% | Alcatraz | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2012 |
78% | 83% | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Mark Foster (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 86% | Lie to Me | Detective Don Hughes (Guest Star) | 2009 |
95% | 87% | The 4400 | Richard Tyler (Character) | 2004-2007 |
33% | No Score Yet | Threat Matrix | Agent Jelani Harper (Character) | 2003-2004 |
73% | No Score Yet | The Handler | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 81% | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Tombs' Security Guard (Guest Star) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Crossing Jordan | Unknown (Character) | 2001-2002 |
83% | 95% | NYPD Blue | Rashard Coleman (Guest Star) | 2002 |
54% | No Score Yet | Haunted | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2002 |