Who Is Ali Muhammad in ‘Euphoria’? Colman Domingo’s Role Is the Show’s Most Underrated Performance
There are flashier characters in ‘Euphoria‘, ones with wilder arcs, louder wardrobes, and more screen time. But for many fans of the HBO drama, the beating moral center of the entire series belongs to a recovering addict named Ali Muhammad, brought to life by one of the most quietly powerful performances on television today.
Ali Muhammad, born Martin, is a recurring character introduced in the first season of ‘Euphoria’, portrayed by Colman Domingo. In a show defined by its chaos and visual excess, Ali exists as something rarer: a figure of hard-earned wisdom, earned not through luck, but through loss.
Ali Muhammad’s Backstory and the Road to Recovery
Ali originally came from a home marked by domestic abuse and addiction, with his father drinking heavily and beating his mother. As a result, Ali himself turned to alcohol and drugs as a means to cope with his difficult upbringing. The trauma did not end in childhood.
He eventually became a firefighter, married, and had two daughters, but substance abuse continued to plague his household, leading to volatile arguments and physical confrontations with his wife. His daughter Marie deeply resents him for his actions and has cut off contact, forbidding him from seeing his grandson.
Ali also converted to Islam at some point during his recovery, changing his name from Martin in the process. That conversion is not merely a character detail. It speaks directly to the idea of Ali as someone who rebuilt his entire identity from the ground up after addiction threatened to destroy it entirely.
Notably, Ali is the only Muslim character on ‘Euphoria’, and his presence has opened up conversations about the representation of Muslim men on prestige television.
Ali as Rue’s Sponsor and the Show’s Moral Anchor
Ali first meets Rue Bennett at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where he immediately cuts through her lies about having found balance in her life. After discerning that she is high at that very meeting, he pushes her toward honesty, and she eventually reveals that without drugs she would probably have taken her own life long ago.
Domingo plays Ali as a man recovering from drug addiction who becomes a sponsor and mentor to Zendaya’s Rue, and that relationship becomes the emotional spine of the series. Ali is a grounding force for Rue, the person who brings her back to reality when she needs it most. He is not afraid to call her out on her bluffs and holds her accountable, while never blaming her for her addiction and acknowledging she is a good person caught in a destructive cycle.
One of the most celebrated moments in the show’s history came during the pandemic-era special episode. The special centralized Rue’s addiction and stripped away the show’s multi-narrative structure in favor of a two-hander between Zendaya and Domingo as Ali, with the latter delivering mesmeric monologues on racism, religion, and his own addiction.
That pivotal special featured a relapsing Rue admitting to Ali that she was both suicidal and reliant on drugs to feel alive, marking the character’s most vulnerable moment yet.
Colman Domingo’s Emmy-Winning Portrayal
Domingo won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 for his work in the second season of the series. The recognition surprised no one who had watched him navigate some of the show’s most emotionally complex scenes.
Domingo has openly reflected on becoming what he called a “54-year-old heartthrob” thanks to his role in ‘Euphoria’, expressing genuine amazement at the attention the role brought him from younger audiences. Beyond the fanfare, though, his performance resonates because of its restraint. In a show that often screams, Domingo consistently whispers.
Outside of ‘Euphoria’, Domingo earned consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his portrayals of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the biopic ‘Rustin’ and a prison inmate in the drama ‘Sing Sing’. The awards circuit recognition confirmed what ‘Euphoria’ fans already knew.
Ali in ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 and What Comes Next
‘Euphoria’ Season 3 has jumped five years into the future, and the lives of all the characters have transformed in unanticipated ways. Ali’s role in that time jump has been one of the most anticipated reveals of the new season.
In the season’s penultimate episode titled “Rain or Shine,” Ali’s Emmy-winning portrayal took center stage like never before, opening with a moving glimpse into his past and showing viewers for the first time the darker side he has often alluded to. Flashback scenes showed Ali struggling with addiction, dealing with anger issues, cheating on his wife, and bringing that turmoil back home to his family.
One surprising addition in the episode included scenes with Natasha Lyonne, who appeared as Ali’s fellow addict during those flashbacks. Domingo revealed that Lyonne had wanted to join ‘Euphoria’ for years and personally pushed to work with him on the show, and that their scenes felt honest because of her own publicly acknowledged past struggles with addiction.
In the season’s trailer, Ali’s character can be seen reminding Rue that she really does need to have faith, suggesting his role as her moral compass remains central to her story even five years on. After everything Ali has survived and everything he continues to carry, his presence in Rue’s life feels less like mentorship and more like a mirror.
Whether he reflects hope or warning depends entirely on what she decides to do next, and that tension is exactly what makes him one of the most fascinating figures in prestige drama right now. If you’ve been following Ali’s journey across all three seasons of ‘Euphoria’, what moment of his has hit you the hardest?
