Mahershala Ali

Mahershala Ali
File:MahershalalhashbazAliCCJuly07.jpg Ali at the 2005 Comic-Con International
Born	Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore (1974-02-16) February 16, 1974 Oakland, California, U.S.
Other names	Mahershala Karim-Ali
Alma mater	St. Mary's College of California Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present

Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore; February 16, 1974), commonly known as Mahershala Ali, is an American actor. Ali began his career as a regular on series such as Crossing Jordan (2001-2002) and Threat Matrix (2003-2004) before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science-fiction series The 4400. His first major film release was in the 2008 David Fincher-directed romantic fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. His other notable films include Predators (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012).

Ali is mostly known for his current roles as Remy Danton in House of Cards and Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and its sequel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015).

Early life

Ali was born in Oakland, California. He is named after Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Raised Christian by his mother, he later converted to Islam, changing his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He attended St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication.

Though Ali entered SMC with a basketball scholarship, he became disenchanted with the idea of a sports career due to the treatment given to the team's athletes. Ali developed an interest in acting, particularly after taking part in a staging of Spunk that later landed him an apprenticeship at the California Shakespeare Theater following graduation. Following a sabbatic year where Ali worked for Gavin Report, he enrolled in New York University's graduate acting program, earning his master's degree in 2000.

Career

Ali is known for his portrayal of Remy Danton in the Netflix series House of Cards, Colonel Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and Tizzy in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Making Revolution	Mac Laslow
2008	Umi's Heart	Ezra	Short film
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Tizzy Weathers
2009	Crossing Over	Det. Strickland
2010	Predators	Mombasa
2012	The Place Beyond the Pines	Kofi
2013	Go for Sisters	Dez
2014	Supremacy	Deputy Rivers
2014	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1	Boggs
2015	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2	Boggs
2015	Kicks	Marlon	Post-production
2016	Free State of Jones	Moses Washington	Post-production
2016	Moonlight		Filming
2017	Hidden Figures		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001-2002	Crossing Jordan	Dr. Trey Sanders	Main role
2002	Haunted	Alex Dalcour	Episode: "Abby"
2002	NYPD Blue	Rashard Coleman	Episode: "Das Boots"
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Tombs' Security Guard	Episode: "Lucky Strike"
2003	The Handler		Episode: "Big Stones"
2003-2004	Threat Matrix	Jelani Harper	Main role
2004-2007	The 4400	Richard Tyler	Main role
2009	Lie to Me	Det. Don Hughes	Episode: "Do No Harm"
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mark Foster	Episode: "Unstable"
2010	The Wronged Man	Calvin Willis	TV film
2010	All Signs of Death	Gabe	Unsold TV pilot
2011	Lights Out	Death Row Reynolds	Episode: "Unaired Pilot"
2011-2012	Treme	Anthony King	Recurring role
2011-2012	Alphas	Nathan Clay	Recurring role
2012	Alcatraz	Clarence Montgomery	Episode: "Clarence Montgomery"
2013-2016	House of Cards	Remy Danton	Regular role
2016	Luke Cage	Cornell Stokes / Cottonmouth

External links

• Mahershala Ali at the Internet Movie Database