Best Supporting Actor Academy Award contender Mahershala Ali has been racking up awards for his break out roles in Moonlight, Luke Cage, House of Cards and Hidden Figures and now he is considering naming his soon-to-be born first child Oscar if he wins.
Well, kinda. When interviewed by E! News Marc Malkin on the red carpet of the annual Oscar nominees luncheon this week, the current ‘It” guy of Hollywood, was asked if he would consider naming his and wife Amatus Sami-Karim’s baby, after the nickname of the famous Academy Award trophy.
“Maybe as a middle name,” the recent SAG Award Best Supporting Actor winner answers coyly in a video replay of the interview. “If it’s a girl , Oscaria.”
The hardest working man in tinsel town also said the award season is readying him for endless nights given that everything is coming to head simultaneously.
Everything is happening, “literally at the same time,” he told Malkin. “She’s in her third trimester and we are in the middle of the Oscar’s unfolding and all these other award shows. It’s finishing as the whole [award show] season finishes.”
What an exhausting schedule for Ali, who also took home the the Critics Choice Supporting Actor Award for his role as Juan in Moonlight.
“I’m just happy if I’ll still be on my feet come February 27.” he added, referencing the end of award season. But that is when the endless nights really begin, as Malkin reminded him.
Ali, who appeared in the Hunger Games franchise films, agreed.
“This is like the warmup for the next 10 years or 5, or whatever it is…18, I’ll take it.”
Ali and Sami-Karim met as New York University students and tied the knot in 2013. They announced news of the pregnancy in December 2016.
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“She and I have known each other for a really long time, (about) 17 years,” he confided. “So, at this point, she’s seen a big shift in things, but at the same time, she’ll ground me real quick if I start feeling myself a little too much. She’s very real, like, seriously.”
Ha! Love it! Congrats!
photo: Getty