Mahershala Ali: ‘Moonlight’ Star Shares Photos Of Adorable Baby Girl
Mahershala Ali may be holding an Academy Award in his hands, but he’s more proud to hold another, more important achievement: his adorable baby daughter.
Mahershala Ali, fresh off his Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight last month, shared on Tuesday a sweet Instagram snap of his baby daughter Bari Najma sitting in his lap. In the adorable photo, Mahershala Ali is seen showing off his buff bicep while sitting on the couch cradling his daughter, who was born just a few days before his Academy Awards win.
The Moonlight actor captioned the snap by writing, “Bari x Abu” and added a heart emoji for extra sweetness. In Arabic, “Abu” means “father.”
Mahershala Ali and his wife Amatus Sami-Karim welcomed their first baby in February, just four days before his iconic February 26 Academy Awards win. Ali, the actor who before the awards-season 2017 was best known for his roles in the Hunger Games saga and Netflix’s House of Cards, is enjoying the peak of his popularity having starred in Oscar-winning Moonlight and Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures.
Mahershala Ali, who became the first ever Muslim to win an Oscar in an acting category, opened up in his interview with People magazine in early March about the difficulties of fatherhood.
Some people aren’t celebrating Mahershala Ali as the first Muslim to win an Oscar: let’s talk about anti-Ahmadi… https://t.co/QDty7Qat11 pic.twitter.com/oT4nvbQHvN
— Sheffield Humanists (@SHShumanists) March 13, 2017
While admitting that fatherhood was a “different kind of crazy,” the Moonlight star said that he can’t get enough of his baby daughter.
“She was smiling last night. It’s just been great to know this little person whose body seems to change every day and whose awareness heightens every day. It’s just been exciting.”
Mahershala Ali also confessed that parenthood has put everything into perspective for him, explaining that he has to be more careful with how he spends his time now that he has his baby daughter. The Moonlight actor is still learning to be the best father to his daughter and says that fatherhood “changes your relationship with time.” Explaining that he has no time “to waste,” the Oscar-winning Moonlight actor admitted that he wants to work in “a more focused way and discover the right balance for my life.”
Mahershala Ali broke the news that he became a proud papa a few days after his wife gave birth to their daughter. The Moonlight actor shared a snap on Instagram featuring his wife and their newborn baby.
His wife and daughter were certainly on his s mind while accepting the Oscar for Moonlight last month. Ali thanked his wife for being “a soldier” and for carrying him through his Oscar-winning road. But welcoming his first baby and winning an Oscar weren’t the only achievements of Mahershala Ali this year, as the Moonlight star also won Golden Globe, SAG Award, and Critic’s Choice award for his phenomenal performance.
Mahershala Ali as Juan. Photographed by David Bornfriend pic.twitter.com/Ds16ExbBYA
— black boys look gold (@chironstheme) March 18, 2017
Mahershala Ali and his wife Sami-Karim started dating in the early 2000s while the Moonlight actor was studying for his master’s degree at New York University. Ali and his producer music wife got married in 2013.
Speaking to the Associated Press last month, Ali revealed that having a baby “requires you to nest, to be in your home.” The Moonlight actor added that it’s also important to turn your home into a “potentially very welcoming and nurturing for a child.”
“The pregnancy has been a real anchor for me to be able to check in.”
When Mahershala Ali was a baby, he was raised a Christian, but then he converted to Islam while in graduate school. It was visiting a mosque with his wife and her mother that motivated the Moonlight star to convert.
[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]
