Sexy Stars of Moonlight
A coming of age story with a very cool cast
Trevante Rhodes (Black)
Chiron, the lead character of Moonlight, is played at different ages by three different actors. Trevante Rhodes plays him in the last chapter of the film, as an adult, when he goes by the name Black. By that point, he’s been hardened by all the suffering he has withstood, but he impulsively makes the trip from Atlanta back to Miami, where he grew up, to see his boyhood friend, Kevin, and the light of desire re-flickers between them (see the clip, below). One look at muscular and handsome Rhodes, a former University of Texas track star, and you’ll know why.
Naomie Harris (Paula)
Of all the members of the Moonlight cast, Naomie Harris, who plays Chiron’s crack-addicted and abusive single mother, is the most seasoned. Born in London and trained at the Bristol Old Vic, she is known for playing the infamous Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Tia Dalma in two Pirates of the Caribbean films, and, in the last two Bond films, Field Agent Eve (Skyfall) and Moneypenny (Spectre).
Mahershala Ali (Juan)
Audience expectations in Moonlight are flipped when Juan, a drug dealer in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami where Chiron grows up, becomes the boy’s surrogate father and a benevolent, empowering figure (see the clip below). For his performance as Juan, Mahershala Ali has already won the Best Supporting Actor award from the New York Film Critics Circle, and Oscar buzz is intense. He’s best known for his work on TV (House of Cards; The 4400), and smaller roles in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Janelle Monáe (Teresa)
Playing Teresa, Juan’s strikingly beautiful girlfriend and a nurturing, maternal figure for Chiron, is a big-screen break for Janelle Monáe, who already has a thriving career as a six-time Grammy–nominated recording artist with two studio albums, The ArchAndroid and The Electric Lady, behind her.
