Mahershala Ali’s best movies and TV shows showcase an incredible career that has already seen so much success. Ali is an American actor who made his on-screen acting debut as a recurring character on the police procedural Crossing Jordan. Following roles on CSI and The 4400, Ali landed his first movie role opposite Brad Pitt in David Fincher’s Best Picture nominated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Before long, it was hard for Hollywood to deny Ali’s incredible talent.
Ali cemented himself as one of the most exciting actors in Hollywood, being a two-time Oscar winner for Moonlight and Green Book, two movies that showcase the very different sides of his talents. Ali continues to have an exciting career with big projects on the horizon, including Jurassic World Rebirth and the long-awaited, much-delayed MCU movie Blade. However, the best movies and TV shows of Ali’s career also show how much the actor has accomplished.
10 Luke Cage (2016)
As Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes
Luke Cage
Release Date September 30, 2016
Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker
Writers Cheo Hodari Coker
Many fans might have forgotten that Mahershala Ali was already in the Marvel universe in a villainous role. After appearing in a supporting role in Jessica Jones, Mike Coulter’s Luke Cage got his own Netflix Marvel series that took a look at this iconic street-level hero who took on crime and corruption in his neighborhood. The chief villain he faced off with was the local crime boss known as Cottonmouth (Ali).
Ali could have played the role of a typical villain, but he manages to bring so many different layers to the character, making him sinister, charming, vulnerable, and one of the standout aspects of the series. Coulter stepped confidently into the lead role in this intense and violent comic book show. It remains to be seen if Luke Cage will ever appear in the MCU and if Coulter will get to reprise the role.
9 House Of Cards (2013-2016)
As Remy Danton
House of Cards
Release Date 2013 - 2017
Network Netflix
Showrunner Beau Willimon
Directors Beau Willimon
Writers Beau Willimon
Cast
-
-
Michel Gill
Claire Underwood
-
Robin Wright
Gillian Cole
-
After working with David Fincher on one of Ali’s first movies, the acclaimed filmmaker took him along on Fincher’s first collaboration with Netflix, directing several episodes of House of Cards. The series stars Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, an ambitious and ruthless politician who, after being passed over as the presumed pick for Vice President, begins his methodical mission of revenge and to secure an even higher seat of power.
Ali played Remy Danton, an intelligent and suave Washington player who gradually becomes one of Frank’s most important allies. Ali excelled in the supporting role, showing how he can be so captivating and steal the show from even established stars. House of Cards ended in quite a lot of controversy, but those early seasons made for some of the most thrilling moments in television and a completely gripping story.
8 The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008)
As Tizzy
In his first feature film, Mahershala Ali found himself working with an acclaimed director and a huge movie star in a Best Picture nominee. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is directed by David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt as a man who is born as an old man and gradually ages backward. The movie follows his extraordinary life with this strange condition and the woman he falls in love with along the way.
Ali has a supporting role as Tizzy, a cook at a nursing home where Button is raised who becomes one of the many mentors Benjamin has in his life. The movie is a romantic and bittersweet story that takes a look at a life from a different perspective. Pitt was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the lead role, while Fincher was nominated for Best Director.
7 True Detective (2019)
As Wayne Hays
True Detective
Release Date January 12, 2014
Network HBO Max
Showrunner Nic Pizzolatto
Directors Cary Fukunaga
Writers Nic Pizzolatto
Following in the footsteps of Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, and Colin Farrell, Mahershala Ali took on the lead role in the third season of True Detective. The anthology series has explored a new cast and a new case with the only connection being they are all stories of the complex detectives investigating these crimes. Ali plays Wayne Hays, a detective investigating the disappearance of two young girls with the story being told across three different timelines.
It is a truly underrated performance in Ali’s career, as he is able to disappear into Hays at each very different stage of his career and life in 1980, 1990, and 2015. While True Detective season 3 seems to be the one that is talked about the least, it is a stirring crime genre that is elevated by Ali in the lead role.
6 Leave The World Behind (2023)
As George G.H. Scott
Leave the World Behind
Release Date December 8, 2023
Runtime 141 Minutes
Director Sam Esmail
Writers Sam Esmail
Mahershala Ali joined some other big stars in what ended up being one of Netflix’s most-watched movies of all time. Leave the World Behind is a thriller that stars Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as a couple looking to escape their life in the city with a brief getaway to a rental property in a rural area. However, their peaceful vacation is cut short when the property owner (Ali) arrives looking for shelter as he claims a nationwide catastrophe is happening outside their isolated world.
Ali is the standout of the cast, with his character George G.H. Scott filled with secrets but also grounded as a real person with real motivations. The movie is an edge-of-the-seat ride that grips the audience from the beginning and builds the tension with every new reveal about what is happening.
As Colonel Jim Johnson
Hidden Figures
Release Date December 25, 2016
Runtime 127 Minutes
Director Theodore Melfi
Writers Theodore Melfi, Alison Schroeder
In the same year Ali appeared in the Best Picture winner Moonlight, he also appeared in the cast of another Best Picture nominee. Hidden Figures tells the true story of the African American women who were instrumental to the early days of NASA’s space mission, even if they were not given the credit they deserved. At the center of the story is mathematician Katherine Goble (Taraji P. Henson), whose work was ground-breaking and trailblazing.
Ali has a supporting role as Jim Johnson, a military man who eventually becomes Katherine’s husband. Hidden Figures is an inspiring and crowd-pleasing period drama that features an incredible cast, including Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kirsten Dunst, Glen Powell, and Kevin Costner. Though the movie does play around with the facts of the story, it is an ode to the unsung women in NASA’s history.
4 The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
As Kofi
Early in Mahershala Ali’s career, he showed an ability to take smaller roles in projects and make them feel like bigger characters. Such was the case with the underseen yet impactful crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines. Ryan Gosling stars in the movie as a motorcycle stuntman who moonlights as a petty criminal while trying to prove himself capable of providing for his son. However, his actions not only have lasting impacts on his family but also on another father and son.
Ali plays Kofi, the man who is now with Gosling’s ex and the mother of his child. Ali could have played the role of a jealous “other man”, but infuses Kofi with great dignity, forgoing his pride and looking out for his loved ones. The movie is a deeply moving story of flawed fathers and sons that also features great performances from Bradley Cooper and Dane DeHaan.
3 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
As Aaron Davis / Prowler
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Release Date December 6, 2018
Runtime 117 minutes
Director Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Writers Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman
Cast
-
Shameik Moore
Peter B. Parker (voice)
-
-
-
While fans are still waiting for Mahershala Ali’s Blade to step into the MCU, the actor has a few comic book projects to his name already, including one of the best animated entries in the genre. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of many comic book movies to deal with the multiverse, and certainly the most effective. It follows Miles Morales, a bright young teen who is not only bitten by a radioactive spider but is also introduced to various versions of the web-slinging hero across multiple realities.
Ali takes on the complex role of Aaron Davies, Miles’ caring uncle who is also the villainous henchman, Prowler. The actor pulls off both aspects of the character expertly. Into the Spider-Verse is a hilarious, action-packed, and clever love letter to the lore of Spider-Man with an animation style that has inspired many movies that followed.
2 Green Book (2018)
As Doctor Donald Shirley
Green Book
Release Date November 16, 2018
Runtime 130 minutes
Director Peter Farrelly
Writers Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga
With only his second nomination, Ali won his second Oscar for his performance in Green Book. Green Book is based on a true story about Italian American bouncer Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) who takes a job as a chauffeur for African American pianist Don Shirley (Ali) as he does a tour of performances in the Deep South in 1962. Though they are very different people who come from very different worlds, they gradually form a bond and a life-changing friendship.
Along with Ali winning his second Oscar, Green Book also marks the second Best Picture winner the actor appeared in. While it is a much more controversial winner than Moonlight, it is still an entertaining and funny comedy that makes great use of the chemistry between the two stars. Ali is especially good as a talented man who is not naïve about the dangers he faces but is willing to push back on ignorance.
1 Moonlight (2016)
As Juan
Moonlight
Release Date October 21, 2016
Runtime 111 Minutes
Director Barry Jenkins
Writers Barry Jenkins
Mahershala Ali won his first Oscar and announced himself as one of the most exciting actors in Hollywood with his performance in the Best Picture winner, Moonlight. From filmmaker Barry Jenkins, Moonlight tells the story of a main character as it explores his life as a young child, a teenager, and a grown adult, detailing the difficult relationships in his life as well as his hidden homosexuality. Ali appears in the first section of the story as Juan, a drug dealer who becomes a caring mentor for the boy known as Little.
Though he only appears in a third of the movie, Ali makes Juan’s presence felt throughout the story. He creates a complex and layered character who is flawed but also gives Little some of the only love he has in life. The movie is a captivating and beautiful story filled with heartbreak, but it delivers an ultimately inspiring message.
English (US) ·