DUBAI: Mahershala Ali won his second Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars on Sunday night, for his performace in “Green Book,” the 91st Academy Award's Best Picture.
The film from Universal Pictures stars Mahershala Ali as an African-American concert pianist in the 1960s and Viggo Mortensen as his driver. It won three Oscars on Sunday, including best supporting actor for Ali and best original screenplay.
Ali dedicated his award to his grandmother, whom he said told him “that I could do anything I put my mind to” and pushed him “to think positively.”
“I know I would not be here without her,” he said on stage.
Mahershala Ali gives an acceptance speech for his second Best Supporting Actor award.
He dedicated the award to his grandmother for her encouragement. "I would not be here without her." https://t.co/zSrvQG8ZE6 pic.twitter.com/kGFWMNEn11
— ABC News (@ABC) February 25, 2019
The 44-year-old won Best Supporting Actor in 2017 for “Moonlight” when he again made history as the first Muslim to triumph in the category.
Ali, born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore to a Christian mother in Oakland, California in 1974, converted to Islam in 1999.
“It just felt like a life sign. I’d come from sports, so I appreciated the discipline that the religion requires. For me, it was a way of living more deliberately,” said Ali.
He added, in an interview with British magazine the Radio Times: “I felt I was connecting to something that was making my physical experience more peaceful.”
Watch the trailer of the film:
