What's next for the cast of 'Moonlight' after big Oscars win

ByMICHAEL ROTHMAN ABCNews logo
Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Last night's Oscars may have ended in a surprising way, with "Moonlight" taking home the award for best picture after it was mistakenly given to "La La Land."

What's next for the talented crop of artists in "Moonlight"? Let's break it down.

Mahershala Ali

Ali had a big year. He not only starred in "Moonlight," but in the Netflix series "Luke Cage" and "Hidden Figures," another nominated film. According to IMDB, he's linked to a James Cameron project, "Alita: Battle Angel" opposite Jennifer Connelly and Christoph Waltz.

According to the official synopsis, "In the twenty-sixth century, a female cyborg is rescued from the scrap heap by a scientist." This could be interesting.

Janelle Monae

A singer originally, Monae recently broke into acting and has taken the silver screen by storm. She was also featured in "Hidden Figures" opposite Ali, among other projects, but looks to be going back to her roots for a bit in 2017.

"The universe has a way of making sure that I have enough inspiration. I will be releasing music in 2017," she told People magazine earlier this month. Make sure to look out for that and her past songs from the Grammy-nominated hit record "The Electric Lady."

Alex R. Hibbert

Playing the young Chiron was the first major acting job for the 12-year-old. And if you didn't fall in love with the young boy in the movie, wait till you hear what he plans to do with his salary from the shoot.

"I just work for my mom. I grind for my mom, everything I do, everything I pursue is for my mom, and I'm doing this for her so she can retire. I don't really care about the fame that much, I just wanna help my mom," Hibbert told HeyUGuys a few weeks back.

In fact, he not only wants to help him mother, he wants to either play football in the future or "be a scientist that cures cancer."

"Scientist-wise, I'm going to take most of my money ... wait, some of my money, and build a lab, and I'm going to take the best scientists to work on curing cancer and stuff like that," he said.

Ashton Sanders

Sanders played the middle Chiron, a teen struggling in high school who was trying to find himself and stay out of trouble in the process.

Before "Moonlight," he had small parts in "Straight Outta Compton" and "The Retrieval."

Next, he will be featured in a short, "The Last Virgin in LA" and is filming a sci-fi thriller "Captive State" opposite John Goodman and Vera Farmiga.

Trevante Rhodes

The model and actor who played "Black," the grown-up Chiron, was actually in "Westworld" for an episode last season and has a lot to look forward to.

"Burning Sands," a movie about hell week hazing, "Horse Soldiers" opposite Michael Shannon and Chris Hemsworth, and "The Predator," a remake of the famed Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick are all in the works.

In addition to all this, Rhodes is currently featured in a "Moonlight" Calvin Klein campaign with Ali and some of his other co-stars.

Naomie Harris

Harris is one of the most acclaimed actresses in the cast. The former "Skyfall" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" actress also starred in "Collateral Beauty" in 2016 and has a few projects in the fire.

"Rampage," a video-game movie will feature not only Harris, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and is set for release in 2018. A second "Jungle Book" film will star Harris as Nisha, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Christian Bale. This is not the "Jungle Book" that won an Oscar last night for visual effects.

Barry Jenkins

The director-writer of "Moonlight" first broke on to the scene with "Medicine for Melancholy" almost 10 years ago.

According to Deadline, one of Jenkins' next projects will be adapting a novel focusing on the iconic Underground Railroad, possibly as a limited series.

Inspired by the book "The Underground Railroad," the project will focus on a slave named Cora and her journey to seek freedom.

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