Mahershala Ali as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes
Cottonmouth is the conflicted villain of Luke Cage and the owner of the Paradise nightclub in Harlem.
In an interview with Vibe, Mahershala Ali (House of Cards) said that his character can justify his illegal activities because he sees the government and law enforcement also doing wrong things.
"I think he believes that they all are criminal in some way; therefore, no one’s criminal," Ali said. "So it’s more of an exploration of somebody who is truly and purely human and operating from the standpoint of wielding his power to maintain a certain amount of control within his locality." (Myles Aronowitz/Netflix)