Mahershala Ali Still Gets 'Choked Up' Thinking About His First Oscar Win (Exclusive)

Time stood still for Mahershala Ali as he accepted his 2017 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor—and he still gets "choked up about it."

Ali, who won the award for his performance in Moonlight, reflects on the life-changing moment for A.frame's "Behind the Oscars Speech" series, calling it "one of the most special things I've ever experienced."

"Just to see so many people out there that I admire and love and appreciate and have been inspired by, like, clapping for me and for our film, I still can get choked up about it," he shares. "I'm a little speechless now. This is how I felt, speechless."

The actor managed to find some words to say, as he thanked his wife, actress and musician Amatus Sami-Karim, who had given birth to their daughter just four days prior to the awards show.

"Don't get pregnant during awards season, and don't get your partner pregnant during awards season," Ali jokes. "It's already crazy, so you know, you don't want to add babies to that."

It was a big night for Ali, as Moonlight also won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay for writer-director Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, on whose unpublished semi-autobiographical play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the film was based.

Moonlight tells the story of a man and the difficulties he faces with his sexuality and identity through three stages of his life. In addition to Ali, Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome and Naomie Harris starred. Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner produced.

"I was amazed and in awe of it all," Ali shares.

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