Biografia

Received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Drama from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (2000).

The name "Mahershalalhashbaz" is from the Book of Isaiah (chapter 8, verse 3) in the Hebrew Bible. It is the longest proper name (ordered by God to be given to the newborn prophet's son) that appears in the Bible and is, actually, a combination of four words: "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz", meaning "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!".

With his Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actor for the drama film Green Book: O Guia (2018), Mahershala Ali becomes the first black actor (male or female) to win twice in the supporting category. He is also the second black person (male or female) to win two competitive Oscars for acting--the first being Denzel Washington who won in both the lead and supporting categories.

His Oscar win for the drama film Moonlight: Sob a Luz do Luar (2016) marked the first time a Muslim actor has won an Academy Award.

Is a respected rapper in the hip hop community, having collaborated and performed with notable artists such as Talib Kweli, Planet Asia, Keith Murray, and others.

'Mahershala' is my nickname.

At that moment in time when we feel like the other, we were not the person embraced, not one of the cool kids, not in the club - when you're that person, it makes you feel smaller, and when they persecute you as a result, that's a difficult position to be in.

Who is that person that comes around and says 'You are okay, you are worthy, you are special?' That makes all the difference in the world for many of us. Those are the people we appreciate the most.

I have had that same experience where there are several people who have come up in my life at the right time and have made critical contributions to how I see the world and how I see myself.

Your life, your circumstances change, and you have to continue to grow as a person, and once you have means and opportunity, you have to make different choices to protect what you have.