Michael B. Jordan is a SAG Awards winner as part of the ensemble of Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther”. His performance also earned him a Critics Choice Best Supporting Actor nomination. A few years earlier, Jordan was up for the Lead Actor Independent Spirit Award for his breakthrough work in “Fruitvale Station”. His director on both of those features, as well as 2015’s “Creed”, was Ryan Coogler. They’re together again for the new Warner Bros. action horror thriller “Sinners”, in theaters April 18th, co-starring Hailee Steinfeld.
Jordan is one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now. And it all started with smaller roles on Film & TV, a 12-episode run on “The Wire”, and then several years on ABC daytime drama series “All My Children”. He spent two seasons on “Friday Night Lights” and a season on “Parenthood” before transitioning to film with “Red Tails” and “Chronicle”, both released in early 2012.
Just after “Fruitvale Station” was the comedy “That Awkward Moment” with Zac Efron and Miles Teller. Jordan collaborated with Teller again on the 2015 “Fantastic Four” flop, but Jordan was able to quickly bounce back with “Creed”, alongside the Oscar-nominated and Critics Choice and Golden Globe winning Sylvester Stallone. That Adonis Creed / Rocky Balboa dynamic carried over into 2018’s “Creed II”, and then Jordan directed and starred in 2023’s “Creed III”. No official word yet on “Creed IV”.
Action flick “Without Remorse” was intended to be a franchise starter but didn’t have quite the impact. Other recent Jordan films include HBO’s “Fahrenheit 451” and solid dramas “Just Mercy” (with Jamie Foxx) and “A Journal for Jordan” (directed by Denzel Washington). And I loved his cameo in 2021’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy” as a *different* Michael Jordan than the one LeBron James and the Looney Tunes thought was going to show up.