Mahershala Ali shines in 'Moonlight,' wins Oscar for Best Supporting Actor

The 2017 Oscars started out just right. The first award of the night went to Mahershala Ali

Ali (who also had a role in Hidden Figures) plays Juan, who along with Teresa (Janelle Monáe) takes in the young Chiron (Alex Hibbert) when he wishes to stay away from a turbulent home life with his drug-addicted mother Paula (Naomie Harris, nominated for Best Supporting Actress).

"I want to thank my teachers, my professors," Ali said in his acceptance speech. "I had so many wonderful teachers and one thing they consistently told me...was that it wasn't about you, it's not about you, it's about these characters. You are in service to these stories and these characters and I'm so blessed to have had an opportunity. It was about Juan, it was about Chiron, it's about Paula."

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He went on to thank his family, the cast and crew, and his wife, who gave birth four days ago to their daughter.

Moonlight is nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Barry Jenkins.