LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bay Area native Mahershala Ali is the winner of the Academy Award for best-supporting actor for his “Moonlight” role.
Ali won for his first Oscar-nominated role, in which he plays a Miami drug dealer who mentors a young boy who is being teased and bullied.
It has been a breakout year for Ali, who starred on the Netflix series “Luke Cage” and also had a role in another Oscar-nominated film, “Hidden Figures.”
Ali paid tribute to his teachers and “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins in his acceptance speech and thanked his wife, who gave birth to their daughter four days ago.