Mahershala Ali is one of the most talented actors in the industry, who has made a name for himself with hard work and dedication. The actor got his breakthrough role with the David Fincher-directed film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, featuring Brad Pitt. His other notable works include roles in House Of Cards. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as a drug dealer in the film Moonlight, however, the actor never wanted to become an actor.
Mahershala Ali did not dream of being an actor and wanted to pursue a different profession, however, his career took a different turn.
Marvel star Mahershala Ali never wanted to become an actor
Ali is one of the most successful actors in the industry, who has played numerous remarkable roles in TV shows and films. But the actor initially had different career plans than acting. Talking about his previous career goals, the Blade actor shared with GQ,
“I would hope I would have fallen into writing. I was going to try to get into the creative writing program at Berkeley; it’s just that the acting thing worked out. I’ve written a couple of scripts, but nothing amazing yet.”
On being asked about his shift from a basketball scholarship to going to NYU for acting classes, Ali said,
“It was about getting a basketball scholarship to a Division I school. Once I got that, I didn’t set a realistic next goal on how to get to the NBA, which is perhaps for the best. I fell into acting. A teacher gave me an opportunity to be in a play, and it came a little easy to me. When it got difficult was when I decided to study acting, and I went to grad school. I felt like if I got [into NYU] this was what I was supposed to pursue. It just so happened that it worked out.”
The actor has played numerous prominent roles in big-budget films like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Marvel’s Blade and Luke Cage, Green Book, Eternals, etc.
Mahershala Ali reveals his breakthrough role and it’s not a Marvel film
Marvel star shared in the interview about his breakthrough role that brought him into the league of mainstream actors. He said,
“I don’t truly believe this when I say it, but House of Cards. It is the thing where people know me from the most. I didn’t have that [role like] Lupita who comes out of school and boom! There’s no way she can say that her big break isn’t Twelve Years a Slave. I don’t really have that. My experience has been a series of opportunities that lead to larger or more diverse opportunities. House of Cards allowed me to get into Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and that has allowed me to get other things that are about to come out.”
Mahershala Ali also gave voice to Aaron Davis in Miles Morale’s Spider-man movies. He will next give voiceover for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, to be released in 2024.
He will also be seen with Julia Roberts in Leave the World Behind released on 8 December 2023.
Source- GQ
