Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Actor, Soundtrack

Birthdate: Jul 15, 1986

Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Few actors in recent years have enjoyed such a rapid career trajectory as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Fresh from his graduate work at the Yale School of Drama, he was picked by Baz Luhrmann for the colorful role of disco king Cadillac in The Get Down. He has since racked up an astonishing range of roles with meteoric speed. He worked alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Baywatch (2017), as well as Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, and Zendaya in The Greatest Showman (2017).

Abdul-Mateen then made a strong impression as the evil Black Manta in DC Comics’ Aquaman (2018), opposite Jason Momoa, followed by powerful turns in a supporting role in Jordan Peele’s Us (2019); as Doctor Manhattan in the acclaimed HBO series, Watchmen (2019), which earned him a Supporting Actor Emmy in a Limited Series or Special; as Bobby Seale in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020); and as a besieged painter in the Jordan Peele-produced Candyman sequel (2021).

Yahya Abdul-Mateen capped a very busy 2021 appearing as Morpheus in the reboot of the Matrix series, The Matrix Resurrections. In 2022, Abdul-Mateen increased his profile co-starring above the title with Jake Gyllenhaal in Michael Bay’s Ambulance. He’s reviving his Black Manta persona in James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). Yahya Abdul-Mateen co-starred in the Austin-set action movie Emergency Contact, with producer partner Dwayne Johnson.

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Personal Details

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a New Orleans native, was raised by Yahya Abdul-Mateen, who was a Muslim convert, and Mary, a practicing Christian. He has five siblings. The family moved to Oakland, and later to Stockton, Calif. He grew up with a stutter, which he overcame in a drama class at UC Berkeley, where he competed on the track team.

With an architecture degree, Abdul-Mateen worked as a city planner in San Francisco’s Housing and Development Office but switched to studying drama after a layoff. He earned his MFA at Yale University’s School of Drama, which he selected after being accepted by Harvard University’s Institute for Advanced Theater Training and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Abdul-Mateen’s height is 6’ 3”.

Known For

Aquaman

(2018)

The Get Down

(2016)

Awards

Winner, Supporting Actor Emmy in a Limited Series or Special (2019); Winner, Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture (2021).

2020

Primetime Emmy

Primetime Emmy Awards

2021

Actor

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Filmography

actor

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Previous (12)

2023 |
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
2023
PG-13
2h 4m
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
5.6
Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father's death. Wielding the Black Trident's power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom.
More Info
asBlack Manta
2022 |
Ambulance
Ambulance
2022
R
2h 16m
Action, Crime, Drama
6.1
Two robbers steal an ambulance after their heist goes awry.
asWill Sharp
2021 |
The Matrix Resurrections
The Matrix Resurrections
2021
R
2h 28m
Action, Sci-Fi
5.7
Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.
More Info
asMorpheus
2021 |
Candyman
Candyman
2021
R
1h 31m
Horror, Thriller
5.9
A sequel to the horror film Candyman (1992) that returns to the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began.
More Info
asAnthony McCoy
2020 |
The Trial of the Chicago 7as Bobby Seale
2019 |
Us
Us
2019
R
1h 56m
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
6.8
A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.
More Info
asRussel Thomas
2018 |
First Matchas Darrel
2018 |
Aquaman
Aquaman
2018
PG-13
2h 23m
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
6.8
Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.
More Info
asManta
2018 |
Boundaries
Boundaries
2018
R
1h 44m
Comedy, Drama
5.7
Laura and her son Henry are forced to drive her estranged, pot-dealing, carefree father Jack cross country after being kicked out of a nursing home.
asSerg
2017 |
The Vanishing of Sidney Hallas Duane
2017 |
The Greatest Showman
The Greatest Showman
2017
PG
1h 45m
Biography, Drama, Musical
7.5
Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
More Info
asW.D. Wheeler
2017 |
Baywatch
Baywatch
2017
R
1h 56m
Action, Comedy, Crime
5.5
Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit, as they uncover a criminal plot that threatens the future of the bay.
asSgt. Ellerbee

Some Facts About Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

When I Grow Up…: Yahya Abdul-Mateen says that, from age 5, he had wanted to be an architect when he grew up.

BMOC: Abdul-Mateen was voted his high school’s Prom King.

Give Me My Name: As a young actor, Abdul-Mateen insisted on keeping his Muslim name, despite warnings that it would make him commercially non-viable.

Say It Right: His first name is correctly pronounced, “Yah-he-ya,” not “Yah-yah.”

Movable Feast: Yahya Abdul-Mateen doesn’t own a permanent residence, and has lived in eight different residences since his 2015 graduation from the Yale School of Drama.

Easy-peasy: Ten days after graduating from Yale, Abdul-Mateen was cast in Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down.

Strange timing: Yahya Abdul-Mateen filmed his courtroom scenes for The Trial of the Chicago 7 on the 50th anniversary of the murder of Seale’s colleague, Black Panther activist Fred Hampton.

AKA: Abdul-Mateen’s nickname is Bug.