Abdul-Mateen was born in 1987 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He spent his childhood in the Magnolia Projects, New Orleans, and then moved to Oakland, California. He graduated in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and then worked as a city planner in San Francisco. He always wanted to be an actor, so later he got his degree in Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama and worked at stage in some theaters.
In 2016, Abdul-Mateen began his career with the Baz Luhrmann's musical drama series The Get Down, which premiered on Netflix. His character Clarence "Cadillac" Caldwell is a Prince of the disco world. He was praised for his role in the series.
He will also star in the road trip drama film Boundaries, along with Vera Farmiga and Christopher Plummer, directed and written by Shana Feste. In January 2017, Abdul-Mateen was cast as the DC Comics villain Black Manta in the film Aquaman, which started shooting in May in Australia.
