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The people that I admire have a wonderful balance of self-belief and humility.
Mahershala Ali -
I found myself sort of becoming a character actor, though I don't know if that would be my natural makeup.
Mahershala Ali
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'Moonlight' is a project that resonated with me more than anything else. I wouldn't have done 'Luke Cage' if they hadn't made time for 'Moonlight.'
Mahershala Ali -
Theater will cast in a more open way; Denzel Washington might play Richard III. Television and film don't really cast openly like that. The theater world has always been a leader in diversity.
Mahershala Ali -
Cultures and races are mixing in a very organic way in the world, and that should be reflected in film and television.
Mahershala Ali -
I got out of grad school in 2000. I was about 26 years old. I've always said that I was late to acting because I didn't really start doing it in a focused way until I was in my early 20s.
Mahershala Ali -
It's funny how you can be thought of as somebody who humanizes bad guys, and I'll take that, but it is something that gave me pause, and I started speaking to my team about finding a good guy.
Mahershala Ali -
I don't want to say I took myself too seriously, but I put a lot of pressure on myself coming out of school. I saw so many people leave the business behind, certain opportunities disappear for folks who had to go into other professions. That kind of terrified me. As a result, I wanted things to happen really quickly.
Mahershala Ali
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At a earlier age, I was kind of into a pretty large scope or range of music from Hieroglyphics and the Hobo Junction guys and all that to like a lot of stuff that was in New York like Diamond D, Nas, Brand Nubian, of course Biggie, OC, Organized Confusion, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Digable Planets, who I just saw recently, and they killed it.
Mahershala Ali -
I was going to try to get into the creative writing program at Berkeley; it's just that the acting thing worked out.
Mahershala Ali -
I prayed every day of my life, and that was instilled in me as a kid, and as I've gotten older, that's just matured in me.
Mahershala Ali -
I do believe that there are creative chakras or different sorts of energy centers.
Mahershala Ali -
People are really paying attention to the comic-book genre, and there's a lot of time and attention being invested in these projects with a wonderful sense of quality control.
Mahershala Ali -
'Mahershala' is my nickname.
Mahershala Ali
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I watch a lot of home stuff; I like seeing things go from one thing to another and get fixed up.
Mahershala Ali -
There are so many women who contributed in a very real way in pushing for the space program during the time in which there was a lot of competition to get into space first, and to know that there were African-American women who were integral in that success is pretty phenomenal.
Mahershala Ali -
Viola Davis is a perfect example of somebody who's so much better than the parts she has the opportunity to play.
Mahershala Ali -
When I was growing up, I was told you could be anything you want to be, but I didn't really believe that because you couldn't be president. Like, I knew that; we never had a black president.
Mahershala Ali -
There's this Method Man album called 'Tical.' It's his first album. I would just listen to that every day, because the album feels like, if it were a film, it would be black and white. It feels like there's a war percolating throughout the album itself. It's dark, and it has a nice forward pace to it.
Mahershala Ali -
I got my Equity card right out of NYU grad school in 2000, doing 'The Great White Hope' at Arena Stage. I played Jack Jefferson. It was an amazing part to walk into, to carry that responsibility for that amount of time. The challenges and the breadth of that role were pretty amazing.
Mahershala Ali
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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.
Mahershala Ali -
There are instances where you're in a space with someone who has been extraordinarily successful, and they don't necessarily connect with you as another person. You can be a prop for them to deliver their stuff, and you're just another element in the scene.
Mahershala Ali -
I love hip hop. It's such an appendage for me. It's something that's always shaped my experience out in the world.
Mahershala Ali -
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.
Mahershala Ali