Mahershala Ali: A white actor can just be an actor
He also spoke about landing his role in hit show True Detective.
![](https://www.expressandstar.com/resizer/v2/VX7XL7G62BDO7JUUZBKHV5VRCM.jpg?auth=89459b737e1e8773f5a7d374dd229a0cca02abff1610b741d47f460f43959e39&width=300&height=225)
Mahershala Ali says black actors have to be “professors of cultural studies”, while a white actor “can just be an actor”.
The True Detective and Moonlight star, 44, told Esquire UK that white actors “are only asked about race if they’re doing a civil rights project”.
“(Otherwise) they talk about their process and life. But black actors are always talking about diversity, where the culture’s at, where it’s going,” he said.
![The cover of Esquire UK](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/02/10121248/6102172c-067c-4aaa-8094-4db0071939fb.jpg)
“We have to be professors of cultural studies where a white actor can just be an actor!”
The US actor also told how he decided not to pursue a career in basketball despite winning a scholarship in the sport.
“I found college sports exploitative. They saw players as a product. We were just there to win championships,” the former House Of Cards star added.
“So I used sports to pay for my education. I knew I had to do something creative.”
![Mahershala Ali photographed for Esquire UK](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/02/10121633/996970ea-c4f6-40a8-b9be-b3d0b019c9c3.jpg)
He said of landing the role of Wayne Hays in True Detective following his Oscar win for Moonlight: “It’s just a massive role, expansive. It checks so many boxes for me as an actor, that in terms of TV, it doesn’t get better.
“I just thought, coming off the Oscars, if I didn’t get that opportunity then, I don’t know how you get to that place.”
The full interview appears in Esquire UK, on sale from Thursday.