Michael B. Jordan had his sights set on a career playing hoops in the NBA, or maybe Baseball, but definitely not acting. That wasn’t in the cards growing up, but by happenstance he started very young, eventually landing a key role on the legendary series, The Wire, got killed off and wondered what the future had in store. It turns out his future was very bright indeed, beginning in movies with a breakout role as Oscar in Fruitvale Station, the first of five (so far) collaborations with director Ryan Coogler that has now put his name in the same sentence with another “Oscar”, that being the Academy Awards for which Jordan’s roles as 30’s era gangsters-turned-entrepreneurs in the south, playing opposite himself as brothers Smoke and Stack in Coogler’s critical and boxoffice smash Sinners has sparked a lot of awards buzz for his performance(s). He has been nominated for Best Actor so far at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, and inevitably there is more to come.
Jordan joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series, The Actor’s Side, where we give his charmed career the once-over and talk about everything. Of course that includes the unique challenge of doing Sinners, both creatively and technically , and he goes into detail giving the secrets of how he pulled it off. We also talk about his work with Coogler across this film, Fruitvale, the Creed trilogy including directing the third one, and Black Panther. He also reveals the cosmic connection he had with the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, a fact of their paths unknowlingly crossing in the same role early in their careers, something even Jordan didn’t find out about until many years later and says few people even know.
Watch on Deadline
He also talks about how doing All My Children as a teenager was incredible training for what came later, his own acting inspirations, and his reasons for “reimagining” the classic art heist film(s) The Thomas Crown Affair as both director and star, following in the footsteps of Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan in the iconic title role, and why the recent incredible robbery in broad daylight at the Louvre as he was in Europe filming his movie had friends calling and asking if he had anything to do with it!
To watch our conversation and to get the ‘Actor’s Side’ of things just click the link above.
Join me every Wednesday during Oscar season for another episode of The Actor’s Side , and every Monday for a new edition of Behind The Lens.