Mahershala Ali Receives Oscar Nomination for Green Book
Celebrated actor and alumnus Mahershala Ali ’96 received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film Green Book. The talented Saint Mary’s graduate was recognized for his portrayal of distinguished classical pianist Donald Shirley. Ali is a favorite among the contenders, with many in the press pointing to his win of a Golden Globe award for the role earlier this month as an indicator he’d be an Oscar nominee. This is the second time in three years Ali has been nominated for an Academy Award. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Moonlight in 2017.
Green Book also received a Best Picture nomination from the Academy, which announced its list of nominees on Tuesday morning, Jan. 22. Set in the early 1960s, Green Book tells the story of an unlikely friendship between erudite Shirley and former nightclub bouncer Tony “Tony the Lip” Vallelonga (played by actor Viggo Mortensen, who also received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance). The two men are thrown together when Vallelonga is hired to drive Shirley through the segregated South for a concert tour and rely on The Negro Motorist Green Book for guidance. More commonly known by its truncated name, the travel guide helped people of color find lodging, restaurants, and businesses that catered to them during the nation’s Jim Crow era.
A special advance screening of Green Book was held at the Rheem Theatre in Moraga in November to benefit the College’s Moonlight Scholarship. A conversation with Ali, and the film’s director and producer Peter Farrelly and Jim Burke, immediately followed the film’s screening. Inspired by Ali and funded by private donors, the College established the Moonlight Scholarship in 2017 to honor rising seniors and benefit incoming first-year students in the High Potential Program. A former HP student, Ali is committed to helping students who, like him, are the first in their families to graduate from College. Ali, along with Farrelly and Burke, met with students in the HP Program, and also spoke to students in the Performing Arts Department.
In addition to participating in the Green Book screening to benefit the Moonlight Scholarship, Ali continues to support the important initiative in public appearances. Recently on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, host DeGeneres challenged Ali to show off his dance moves. The reward: $10,000 to the charity of his choice. Ali smoothly slid into what he described as the Obama two-step, drawing cheers from the studio audience and a check from DeGeneres for the scholarship. (Watch the engaging segment here)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hold its 91st awards ceremony on Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. PT. No doubt many in the SMC community will cross their fingers that evening, hoping a favorite Gael brings home another Oscar trophy.