How Mahershala Ali Really Felt About Recording His First Line As The MCU's Blade

During a visit to "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Mahershala Ali was asked about his vocal cameo in the post-credits scene of "Eternals" and it's clear that, despite the brevity of the moment, the pressure to get the character right was real.

"You lose a lot of sleep over it," Ali said. "Like, I was losing a lot of sleep over this line, because ideally, you want to be talking once you are filming." 

Ali went on to say that he finds that he often struggles on the first day of portraying any new character and this particular job was a different kind of process for him. 

"100% of the time, my first day on any set, on any job, I hate it," Ali told Colbert. "I hate how I sound. I don't believe myself. You're trying to get comfortable in the character, so to have to talk before you're even actually filming was challenging." 

Despite the unique set of challenges that come with his new MCU role, Ali wanted to make sure to note that he is happy to finally be moving forward with the project. Ali said, "I'm grateful for it, because it made it feel real, it's like 'OK, now we're going.'" 

Once we get an official release date for "Blade," Ali might have to reach out to "Doctor Strange" actor Benedict Cumberbatch for advice on how to best avoid giving away spoilers.