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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), and Morpheus / Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021). For his portrayal of Cal Abar / Doctor Manhattan in the HBO limited series Watchmen (2019), he won a Primetime Emmy Award. He also starred in episodes of The Handmaid's Tale (2018) and Black Mirror (2019).
“So to have my name at the top of the billing on my own for Candyman, right up there on Aquaman, and next to Keanu Reeves in a big production like The Matrix is huge. To be validated, to hold my own, and to go on talk shows where they say my entire name, that’s inspiring”
“I got off to a really fast start ... I kind of just skyrocketed out of graduate school”
“That world is enormous. And I joined that world way into that run; a train that was already moving. Normally, I come in way early on and I get to figure it out…I was freaking out. It was a scene with [Samuel L.] Jackson, Tom [Holland]…there were a number of actors in that scene. And I remember not being able to remember my lines. I was the wooden board. And they were like, ‘Whoa”
“I didn’t want to show up like, ‘I have a confession,’ so I taught myself”
“There’s a lot of work out there, which makes for a wide variety of creativity and conversation. And most of all, employment, for a lot of really, really good actors”
“But I like to consider myself an actor, and one of the assets that I have is that I’m black. And that I’m 6’3″! I just want to do work that gets people excited and makes them feel things, no matter their economic or racial background”
Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.
The Adventures of Cliff Booth
2026 · as Jim Brown
Man on Fire
2026 · as John Creasy
Wonder Man
2026 · as Simon Williams
By Any Means
2026 · as Wayne Strider
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
2023 · as Black Manta
Ambulance
2022 · as Will Sharp
Candyman
2021 · as Anthony McCoy
The Matrix Resurrections
2021 · as Morpheus / Agent Smith
The Trial of the Chicago 7
2020 · as Bobby Seale
Us
2019 · as Russell Thomas / Weyland
Watchmen
2019 · as Cal Abar
Aquaman
2018 · as Black Manta
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall
2018 · as Duane
Baywatch
2017 · as Sgt. Ellerbee
The Greatest Showman
2017 · as W. D. Wheeler
Studio characters