Mahershala Ali credits the four years he spent on the filmed-in-Baltimore series “House of Cards” with giving him the career boost that led to his winning a best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday night for his performance in “Moonlight.”
“’House of Cards’ is the reason I’m here,” Ali said backstage after the Oscars ceremony. “I’d been working, to that point, 12 years — very steady employment, for the most part. And then I was finally able to be in something that really resonated with people.”
Those years playing Remy Danton, former communications director for Kevin Spacey’s ruthless Frank Underwood, in the Netflix series moved his career to another level, Ali said.
“That’s the reason I’ve been able to put certain things together and even have this moment, because of the years I spent on ‘House of Cards.’”
As for what his former boss might say about this year’s Oscars, both Ali’s and the confusion over which film won best picture (“La La Land” was first announced as the winner, then “Moonlight”), Ali had no trouble channeling Frank Underwood for a moment.
“Bah, humbug,” he said with a smile.
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