Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Abdul-Mateen was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father Yahya Abdul-Mateen I (1945–2007) was Muslim,^[3][4] and his mother Mary is Christian.^[5][2] He is the youngest of six children.^[6] He spent his childhood in the Magnolia Projects of New Orleans, and then moved to Oakland, California,^[7][8] where he attended McClymonds High School. At McClymonds, he was an athlete^[a] and self-described geek who enjoyed chess but was also voted prom king.^[10] The family was eventually priced out of Oakland and moved to Stockton, California.^[9]

During his time at the University of California, Berkeley, Mateen became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. ^[11] and competed as a hurdler for the California Golden Bears.^[2] A teammate suggested he take a theater class; that class helped him overcome his stutter.^[12] He graduated with a degree in architecture, and then worked as a city planner in San Francisco.^[13] After being laid off from his job, he enrolled at Yale School of Drama^[4] and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree.^[8][14]

Early in his career, Abdul-Mateen was adamant about not altering his Muslim name or using a stage name, countering the implications that having a Muslim name would impede his success.^[15] In 2016, Abdul-Mateen began his acting career with Stephen Adly Guirgis and Baz Luhrmann's musical drama series The Get Down, which premiered on Netflix. His character Clarence "Cadillac" Caldwell is a prince of the disco world.^[14] He was praised for his performance in the series.^[7][16]

In 2017, Abdul-Mateen appeared in Shawn Christensen's drama film The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, in the role of Duane. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.^[17]

Abdul-Mateen played a police officer, Garner Ellerbee, in the 2017 action comedy film Baywatch along with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, and directed by Seth Gordon.^[18] He also played acrobat W. D. Wheeler in the musical film The Greatest Showman, which also starred Efron as well as Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya.^[19]

In 2018, he starred in the road trip drama film Boundaries, along with Vera Farmiga and Christopher Plummer, directed and written by Shana Feste;^[20] and played DC Comics villain Black Manta in the film Aquaman, which started shooting in May 2017 in Australia.^[21]

In the 2019 film Us, directed by Jordan Peele, Abdul-Mateen appears in a flashback as the main character's father.^[22] He also starred in "Striking Vipers", the first episode of the fifth season of Netflix's science-fiction anthology series Black Mirror.^[23] Later in the year, he played Cal Abar, known as Doctor Manhattan, in the HBO superhero drama miniseries Watchmen,^[24] which earned him his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special in September 2020.^[25]

Abdul-Mateen starred as Morpheus / Agent Smith in the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.^[26] He also starred in Nia DaCosta's 2021 film Candyman.

In September 2022, he made his Broadway debut in the revival of the Suzan-Lori Parks play Topdog/Underdog alongside Corey Hawkins. He remained in the role until January 2023, and earned a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play.

In 2022, Abdul-Mateen was cast as the Marvel Comics character Simon Williams in the Disney+ series Wonder Man which premiered on January 27, 2026. In March of that same year, the show was renewed for a second season.^[27][28][29] Around the same time, he was set to star as John Creasy in the Netflix tv adaptation of Man on Fire.

Abdul-Mateen lives in New York City.^[6] After his father's death in 2007, Abdul-Mateen began researching his family history, explaining that "My father grew up and passed away with the longing to know where his father was from and about his father's history."^[31] His father had West Indian heritage.^[32]