Mahershala Ali made history at Sunday night’s Oscars, becoming the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award.
He won the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for “Moonlight.” It was one of the more uneasy races in the major categories. While Ali had been the critics’ champ and won the Screen Actors Guild prize, he lost the Golden Globe (Aaron Taylor-Johnson in “Nocturnal Animals”) and the British Academy prize (Dev Patel in “Lion”) to other contenders. In the end, the “Moonlight” star pulled it out.
During an emotional speech, Ali thanked his “wonderful teachers and professors,” and shared with the audience some advice he received from them: “It’s not about you, it’s about these characters. You are a servant. You’re in service to these stories and these characters.”
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