Mahershala Ali has been cast as Jack Johnson, the legendary boxer, in the upcoming HBO series Unruly.
The show will be split into six parts, and has been described by Variety as “an unapologetically Black, no-holds-barred telling of Johnsonâs life.
The statement added: “The first ever Black heavyweight boxing champion, the show would follow Johnsonâs rise to greatness and the costs he paid for his skin color and defiance.”
The series will be based based on the PBS documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, and will see Dominique Morisseau serve as writer and executive producer.
Ali will also have an executive producer credit, alongside Tom Hanks and Ken Burns, who produced and directed Unforgivable Blackness.
The actor had previously played Johnson on the stage, in a theatrical production of The Great White Hope in 2000. It will also be the second time Ali works on a project with HBO, having starred in season three of True Detective.
Unruly is currently in pre-production, with no release date or other cast members confirmed at this stage.
Mahershala Ali is the first Black actor to have won two Oscars, for his roles in Moonlight and Green Book. In terms of television, Ali has starred in both Netflix’s House of Cards and Luke Cage.
Coming up next, he is attached to play the lead role in a Blade reboot for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, due for release in 2022.
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