Springbrook High School graduate and Silver Spring-raised Michael Ealy will portray Malcolm X in The Greatest, Prime Video’s upcoming biographical limited series about Muhammad Ali.
Ealy will appear in the recurring role of the influential civil rights leader and prominent Nation of Islam figure, whose mentorship, political influence and complicated relationship with Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, played a significant role in the boxer’s early life, spiritual awakening and association with the Nation of Islam.
The Greatest is the first authorized scripted television series about Ali, with his widow, Lonnie Ali, serving as an executive producer. The series was created by Ben Watkins, with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society and Roc Nation among the production teams.
Ealy joins an ensemble cast that includes Jaalen Best as Muhammad Ali, Omari Hardwick as Cassius Clay Sr., Amin Joseph as Sonny Liston and Giovanni Ribisi as legendary trainer Angelo Dundee.
Born Michael Brown in Washington, D.C., Ealy was raised in Montgomery County, growing up in Silver Spring and graduating from Springbrook High School before attending the University of Maryland. Prior to Springbrook, Ealy attended White Oak Intermediate School, now White Oak Middle School. During his childhood in Montgomery County, his mother worked for IBM, which had facilities in Gaithersburg and Bethesda at the time.
The former Springbrook Blue Devil and White Oak Wildcat had his breakout role in 2002’s Barbershop. His extensive film and television career has since included roles in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Think Like a Man, Think Like a Man Too, About Last Night, The Perfect Guy and numerous other projects.
