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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Highest Rated: 93% Us (2019)

Lowest Rated: 12% The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2017)

Birthday: Jul 15, 1986

Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

A critically praised turn as a fleet-footed club owner on "The Get Down" (Netflix, 2016-17) gave actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen a career boost that led to major roles in "The Greatest Showman" (2017) and "Aquaman" (2018). Born July 15, 1987 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Abdul-Mateen was raised in the city's Magnolia Projects before relocating with his family to Oakland, California. There, he harbored a desire to become an actor, but pursued a career in architecture, earning a degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and working for a period of time as a city planner in San Francisco. But upon being laid off, Abdul-Mateen took a risk and focused his energy on becoming an actor; he was soon cast in a local stage production, which prompted him to apply to the Yale Drama School, where he earned a master's degree in fine arts. More stage work followed, including roles with the Williamstown Festival in Massachusetts and New York's Shakespeare in the Park, before Abdul-Mateen made his television debut as Cadillac, a vain, disco-dancing club owner in the Baz Luhrmann-produced "The Get Down." The praise afforded to him by his performance led to steady and diverse work in features and on television; in the former capacity, he moved deftly from broad comedies like "Baywatch" (2017) to musicals like "The Greatest Showman," which cast him as acrobat W.D. Wheeler, and indie efforts like "First Match" (2018), for which he played the estranged father of a teenaged girl and aspiring wrestler. On the small screen, Abdul-Mateen appeared on "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu, 2017- ) and was cast in HBO's "Watchmen" series, but his breakout role came in theaters when he was tapped to play the undersea bounty hunter Black Manta, longtime nemesis to "Aquaman" in James Wan's feature adaptation of the venerable DC Comics fantasy title.

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Highest rated movies

93% 61% Us Watchlist 89% 90% The Trial of the Chicago 7 Watchlist 85% 81% First Match Watchlist 84% 72% Candyman Watchlist 68% 88% Ambulance Watchlist 66% 72% Aquaman Watchlist 63% 63% The Matrix Resurrections Watchlist 56% 86% The Greatest Showman Watchlist 53% 59% All Day and a Night Watchlist 49% 56% Boundaries Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
34% 81% Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Black Manta (Character) $124.5M 2023
68% 88% Ambulance Will Sharp (Character) $22.3M 2022
63% 63% The Matrix Resurrections Morpheus/Agent Smith (Character) $37.7M 2021
84% 72% Candyman Anthony McCoy (Character) $61.2M 2021
89% 90% The Trial of the Chicago 7 Bobby Seale (Character) - 2020
53% 59% All Day and a Night Big Stunna (Character) - 2020
40% 56% Sweetness in the Belly Aziz (Character) - 2019
93% 61% Us Russel Thomas/Weyland (Character) $175.0M 2019
66% 72% Aquaman Manta (Character) $335.0M 2018
49% 56% Boundaries Serge (Character) $698.4K 2018
85% 81% First Match Darrel (Character) - 2018
12% 77% The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Duane (Character) - 2017
56% 86% The Greatest Showman W.D. Wheeler (Character) $174.0M 2017
18% 56% Baywatch Sgt. Ellerbee (Character) $58.0M 2017

TV

Credit
No Score Yet 28% The Drew Barrymore Show Guest 2022
No Score Yet 42% Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guest 2019 2022
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2021
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2020
No Score Yet 50% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Desus & Mero Guest 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter Guest 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Daily Show Guest 2019
96% 57% Watchmen Cal Abar (Character) 2019
83% 80% Black Mirror Karl (Character) 2019
No Score Yet 18% The Late Late Show With James Corden Guest 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Last Call With Carson Daly Guest 2018
83% 57% The Handmaid's Tale Omar (Guest Star) 2018
82% 88% The Get Down Cadillac (Character) 2016-2017