Acting credits
63
Established
Large and steady acting portfolio.
Actor
Mahershala Ali
Acting
Career Snapshot
ExplainedThese indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.
TMDB popularity
3.7
Moderate attention
TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.
Movies: 36Series: 29Crew credits: 5
TMDB ID: 932967
IMDb ID: nm0991810
Known for: Acting
Born: February 16, 1974
Age: 52
Place of birth: Oakland, California, USA
Gender: Male
Adult content flag: No
Career span: 1953 - 2027
Years active: 75
Average TMDB rating: 7.07
Wikidata: Q360531
Also known as
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali • Mahershala Karim-Ali • Hershal Gilmore • Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore
Other jobs
Executive Producer (2)Thanks (2)Producer (1)
Biography
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).
Photos
Movies
Movie credits linked with Mahershala Ali.
Jun 16, 2027
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
2027 Movie
Wildwood
as Brenden (voice)
2026 Movie
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
as Latif
2026 Movie
Jurassic World Rebirth: The Making of a New Era
as Self
2025 Movie
Jurassic World Rebirth
as Duncan Kincaid
2025 Movie
Leave the World Behind
as G.H. Scott
2023 Movie
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
2023 Movie
Stand
as Self - Actor
2023 Movie
Swan Song
as Cameron Turner
2021 Movie
Eternals
as Eric Brooks / Blade (voice) (uncredited)
2021 Movie
Between the World and Me
2020 Movie
We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
Executive Producer
2020 Movie
Waves
Thanks
2019 Movie
Alita: Battle Angel
as Vector
2019 Movie
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Uncle Aaron (voice)
2018 Movie
Green Book
as Dr. Don Shirley
2018 Movie
Roxanne Roxanne
as Cross
2017 Movie
Hidden Figures
as Jim Johnson
2016 Movie
Moonlight
as Juan
2016 Movie
Kicks
as Marlon
2016 Movie
Free State of Jones
as Moses Washington
2016 Movie
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
as Boggs
2015 Movie
The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
as Self - Boggs
2015 Movie
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
as Boggs
2014 Movie
Series
Series credits linked with Mahershala Ali.
Task
as Eddie Barnes
2025 Series
Chimp Empire
as Self - Narrator (voice) • 4 eps
2023 Series
INVINCIBLE
as Titan (voice) • 2 eps
2021 Series
Amend: The Fight for America
as Self • 3 eps
2021 Series
A World of Calm
as Narrator • 1 eps
2020 Series
Ramy
as Sheikh Ali Malik • 6 eps
2019 Series
Room 104
as Franco • 1 eps
2017 Series
Marvel's Luke Cage
as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes • 6 eps
2016 Series
Race for the White House
as Narrator • 6 eps
2016 Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self • 1 eps
2015 Series
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self • 2 eps
2015 Series
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self • 3 eps
2014 Series
True Detective
as Wayne Hays • 8 eps
2014 Series
House of Cards
as Remy Danton • 45 eps
2013 Series
Alcatraz
as Clarence Montgomery • 1 eps
2012 Series
Alphas
as Nathan Clay • 12 eps
2011 Series
Lie to Me
as Detective Hughes • 1 eps
2009 Series
Stand Up to Cancer
as Self • 1 eps
2008 Series
The Graham Norton Show
as Self • 1 eps
2007 Series
The 4400
as Richard Tyler • 33 eps
2004 Series
Threat Matrix
as Jelani Harper • 16 eps
2003 Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self • 2 eps
2003 Series
Crossing Jordan
as Trey Sanders • 23 eps
2001 Series
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Tombs' Security Guard • 1 eps
2000 Series