Mahershala Ali was a regular on Netflix original series “House of Cards” since the first season, but the actor is not reprising his role for the highly-anticipated fifth outing. (Photo : Getty Images/Jemal Countess)
Mahershala Ali was a regular on Netflix original series "House of Cards" since the first season, but the actor is not reprising his role for the highly-anticipated fifth outing.
Ali, who played Frank Underwood's ally and former White House Chief of Staff Remy Danton, announced he won't be returning in "House of Cards" Season 5. After retiring and resigning as Frank's Chief of Staff, Remy pursued a career outside of politics; however, things didn't end badly for Remy since by the end of Season 4, he and love interest Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker) were able to rekindle their romance.
"I actually think Remy wins, in the end. He gets the girl, and he's wanted to move out of politics for some time now," Ali told Deadline about Remy's Season 4 ending.
Speaking of his departure from the political thriller, Ali explained that he wanted to do more.
"I didn't feel that there was a lot more to really explore-and if they didn't agree with me, I wouldn't be out of that contract," Ali said.
He added, "My character also has a shelf life. It was just time to close that storyline out while it still meant something to people."
Meanwhile, Ali has moved on to another Netflix series: Marvel's "Luke Cage." In the show, which is a spin-off of "Jessica Jones," the 42-year-old "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" star plays Cottonmouth, antagonist to Michael Colter's Luke Cage.
Cottonmouth, also known as Cornell Stokes, is an owner of a Harlem nightclub. His criminal activities lead him to cross paths with Luke Cage.
According to Marvel, executive producer Jeph Loeb said of the character, As Cottonmouth he will really let loose... Luke Cage won't know what hit him."
On the other hand, Ali described Cottonmotuh as "really not a quote-unquote 'bad guy'."
"As an actor, playing a guy who is struggling with some of the things that he's struggling with-who is trying to maintain a hold over his business, over his industry-there's an aspect of family legacy, manhood, responsibility; these things that Luke Cage begins to be a threat toward," Ali commented.
"Luke Cage" Season 1 will premiere on Netflix on Sept. 30.
