On Sunday evening Mahershala Ali took home his second Oscar in three years, wining for best supporting actor for “Green Book.” In the film, he portrays classical pianist Don Shirley who, in the early ’60s, traveled through the segregated South with his white (and racist) driver, played by Viggo Mortensen. In 2016, Ali also won the same award for “Moonlight,” making him the first Muslim film star to win not just one but two golden awards.
It should be noted that over the years, Muslims have won Oscars in various categories (including Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and feature director Asghar Farhadi), but Ali is the only Muslim actor to win. This year the popular actor also won a Golden Globe, a prize from the Screen Actors Guild and a Bafta.
You can currently find Ali starring in the third season of the HBO drama “True Detective.”
