Oakland’s Mahershala Ali is having a moment (again)
After winning an Oscar this year for ‘Moonlight,’ the actor is winning raves once again for ‘Green Book’
So this is what it feels like to be an Academy Award winner.
As Mahershala Ali is introduced on stage at the Rheem Theater in Moraga, the moviegoers who have packed the house rise in unison. There is an extended burst of boisterous applause, punctuated by whoops and whistles.
Ali, who was born in Oakland, raised in Hayward and did his college studies just up the road at Saint Mary’s, appears pleasantly startled by the outpouring of love.
“I’m so very grateful to be here …,” he says to the audience, which had just viewed a benefit screening of “Green Book,” his latest film.
Not so long ago, many people in this crowd likely didn’t know much about Ali. But that changed in February 2017, when he capped a year of rave-worthy TV and film work by earning a best supporting actor Oscar for his quietly powerful portrayal of a soft-hearted drug dealer in
“Moonlight.”
It was a sudden breakthrough moment in a 16year show-biz career that had been packed with solid credits in movies and TV shows, but mostly devoid of high-level acclaim or attention.
How has life changed? Ali and his wife, artist composer Amatus SamiKarim, recently moved with their 1-year-old daughter from Venice to a new home in Northeast Los Angeles (his Oscar, at this moment, was still packed in a box). These days, he is more often recognized in public and his acting services are in more demand than ever.
That’s where things get interesting. Rather than treating his Academy Award victory like some kind of professional pinnacle, Ali is using it as a springboard to bigger and better things — roles he describes as “more of a leading capacity.”
First, there’s “Green Book,” a feel-good period road movie in which he co-stars with Viggo Mortensen. The film, particularly the two main acting performances, have generated positive reviews and, yes, Oscar buzz. Then, in January, Ali headlines the third installment of HBO’s crime anthology “True Detective.”
Both projects reflect a dogged determination not to squander his post-Oscar opportunities.
“I’m definitely in a different place, but in some ways it’s not any easier,” he says during a recent interview. “I now have the chance to work with extraordinary, accomplished people and I have a responsibility to be really conscious of what is honestly speaking to me.”
In “Green Book,” which is based on a true story, he plays world-renowned pianist Dr. Don Shirley, who hires a coarse, Italian-American bouncer named Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Mortensen) to be his driver for a concert tour through the Jim Crow South in 1962. As this curious odd couple confronts cultural differences and racism-fueled indignities, they begin to form an unlikely bond. (The film’s title refers a guidebook of the era for African-American motorists seeking establishments that are safe to visit.)
The regal and erudite Shirley is so vastly different from every character Ali previously played that the role initially “scared” him. But that’s how he knew he must take it on.
“For me, it’s important to have some element of fear when I read a script,” he says. “That’s what wakes me up. That’s what excites me and makes it worth doing. I want that challenge. When I read a script and find myself thinking, ‘Oh yeah, I could do that,’ I know it’s not the thing to do.”
Director Peter Farrelly, who was moved by Ali’s work in “Moonlight,” was confident he cast the right guy for the job.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” he says. “His performance in that film blew my mind. And even though Don Shirley is so different from the guy in ‘Moonlight,’ I’ve always believed that a great actor can do anything — and Mahershala is a great actor.”
“Green Book” captured audience awards at the Toronto International and Mill Valley film festivals, and last week was named film of the year by the National Board of Review. Ali insists that it’s not only a solid piece of entertainment, but can start “a larger cultural conversation about behavior, acceptance, listening to one another and tolerance.”
As for “True Detective,” HBO has thus far revealed only sparse details — and a short trailer — for the eight-episode third season, which tells the story “of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.”
Nic Pizzolatto, who penned both the universally acclaimed first season and widely panned second, again serves as the series writer.
In his first lead role for television, Ali stars as Wayne Hays, an Arkansas state police detective who he plays at various ages — 35, 45 and in his early 70s. Ali calls him the “most difficult character I’ve ever played — by far,” but believes it was very much worth the struggle.
“I’m not trying to hype it up, but I think it’s going to be special — a very rich experience,” he says of the series. “And I think Nic wrote a finale that is out of this world. It’s so, so good. Everyone I know just wept over it.”