Lane Edwards

Mahershala Ali, often shortened to Mahershala Ali, is an American actor. Born in Oakland in 1974, he studied communication at St. Mary's College of California, but later pursued a Master's degree in acting at NYU due to his passion for acting. Early in his professional career, he appeared mostly in television series. From 2003 to 2007, he played Richard Tyler for four seasons in the series The 4400. Afterwards, he focused on film. He portrayed Tizzy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Colonel Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay films. During this time, he also appeared in House of Cards, playing Remy Danton. In 2016, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Juan, a drug dealer, in the film Moonlight. Married to Amatus Sami-Karim, the artist became a father to a daughter, Bari Najma, on February 22, 2017, four days before winning his Oscar. Ali is a Muslim member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.