Mahershala Ali Lands “Dream Role”, To Play Legendary Boxer Jack Johnson In HBO Series ‘Unruly’

Get the awards ready, Mahershala Ali is coming for all of them.

Marvel Studio’s , Marhershala Ali, will be hopping in the boxing ring and playing the legendary boxer who was the world’s first Black heavyweight champion. Vulture reports that Ali has signed on to play Johnson in an upcoming HBO limited series called Unruly.

Per Vulture:

“Based on the Ken Burns documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and its accompanying book by Geoffrey C. Ward, the series will be written by playwright Dominique Morisseau and produced by Tom Hanks’ production company, Playtone.”

This will be the second time Ali will portray Johnson. The actor first played Johnson in the 2000 stage revival of the play The Great White Hope. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ali called portraying Johnson a “dream role” and added:

“I really just want the opportunity to go on the hero’s journey. I’ve never done that.”

Ali coming onboard for Unruly marks the second union between the actor and HBO. Mahershala shined in the third season of the cable network’s hit crime drama, True Detective. No further details have been revealed about Unruly, we will keep you posted as more information is released about the forthcoming limited-series.

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Photo: Chelsea Guglielmino / Getty