Mahershala Ali Wins Best Male Supporting Actor Award at SAG Awards for ‘Moonlight’ [Watch Now]

Last night (Jan. 23), the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were given away and Moonlight received “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role” for Mahershala Ali out of three nominations.

Ali, who plays “Juan,” a drug dealer who becomes a father figure for young “Chiron” in Moonlight, gave an emotional acceptance speech about his conversion to Islam and humanity.The actor stated,

“I think what I have learned from working on Moonlight, you see what happens in persecution. What I was so grateful about and having the opportunity was playing a gentleman who saw a young man folding into himself as a result of the persecution of his community, and taking that opportunity to uplift him and tell him he mattered, that he was OK. And accept him. I hope that we do a better job of that.”

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight is the only release of 2016 that has topped over 300 Top 10 Lists praised by writers and critics nationwide. In addition to taking home “Best Motion Picture – Drama” at the Golden Globes earlier this month, Moonlight has earned eight Academy Awards, six NAACP Image Award nominations, a Critics’ Choice Award, four Gotham Awards including “Best Picture,” a National Board of Review Award and many more.

A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young Black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.

At once a vital portrait of contemporary African-American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, MOONLIGHT is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths.

Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, Jenkins’s staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people, and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are.

Check the trailer below. Moonlight is in theatres now.