Mahershala Ali is vastly becoming a Hollywood hot shot. Still riding the wave of his Golden Globe victory for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in his latest film Green Book, Ali is one of the freshest and most in-demand faces right now in the acting world because of his extraordinary skill set and vast background in film, television and theater.
Ali, whose full name is Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, was born in Oakland California, but was raised in Hayward. His name comes from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible. It is the longest proper name that appears in the Bible and means “hurry to the spoils” or “He has made haste to the plunder.” He was born to be a star being that his father was a Broadway actor. Ali received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Mass Communications from St. Mary’s College in California. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. After pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts degree from New York University in 2001, he began to nurture his career by making regular television appearances in Crossing Jordan and Threat Matrix. The attention wasn’t so much on Ali until his breakthrough performance in The 4400.
Ali’s major film release came in a role starring in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but when he starred in the Netflix series House of Cards that’s when the world wanted to find out more about this talented individual. Over the course of his career he also starred in The Hunger Games film series, Marvel’s Luke Cage, True Detective, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, just to name a few.
A fun fact about Ali is that he signed to Bay Area recording label Hieroglyphics Imperium during the late 2000s and recorded music as Prince Ali. He released his album ‘Curb Side Service’ in 2007 but decided acting would be the best career for him.