Michael B. Jordan
Born on February 9, 1987, in Santa Ana, Michael Bakari Jordan received an Academy Award for Best Actor, a distinction that marks one of the more prominent formal recognitions in his career across film and television.
Jordan attended Newark Arts High School before pursuing work in the entertainment industry as an actor, model, and voice actor. His early television credits include The Wire and Friday Night Lights, two productions that placed him in front of substantial audiences during the formative years of his screen career. From television, he moved into film work, appearing in Fruitvale Station and subsequently in Creed, both of which became notable entries in his body of work as a film actor.
His career expanded beyond performance into production. Jordan works as both a film producer and an executive producer, taking on roles that involve shaping projects from behind the camera as well as appearing in front of it. He has also worked as a film director. Additional screen credits include Black Panther, Without Remorse, and Space Jam: A New Legacy, reflecting a range of genres and production scales across his filmography. His work as a voice actor further broadens the scope of his professional output, establishing him across multiple modes of screen performance and production.
Alongside the Academy Award for Best Actor, Jordan also received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, making him a recipient of two of the more prominent individual performance awards in American film and television. These honors, taken together with his credited work in productions such as Creed and Black Panther, represent the concrete markers of his career as a United States citizen working in English-language film and television. His dual role as a performer and producer continues to define the practical shape of his professional activity in the industry.
Quotes by Michael B. Jordan
Doing ensembles and shows is one thing, but being able to front a feature is totally different. You can be a great actor, and supertalented, but there's something about carrying a feature that's unique.
Honestly, soaps are great training. You're doing 90-plus pages a day. It was my acting class, where I built my foundation for showing up and being professional.
I was still playing basketball and baseball - everything else I wanted to do as a kid. Modeling was a chance to get out of school early and go into the city.
For me, I really enjoy telling stories and helping the younger generation, young actors to have the same opportunity I did.
I think that's part of my evolution: realizing that I can say 'no' to things, even when I'm faced with that lull that comes between projects, and I get anxious because I feel like I need to be constantly working.
As a naturally reserved and quiet person, it's definitely a challenge being thrust into this atmosphere of celebrity and everything that comes along with that. Some parts I'm resisting more than others but can't for much longer, so I'm just trying to find a way to make sense of it all.
You work on a show like 'All My Children' - we know what it is, but you're still able to grow outside of it. It's the perfect situation. I learned. I grew as an actor. I worked with professionals. I got paid.
I love telling the experience of a black male in America, but modern, not always having to go back to a period piece to remind people where we come from. It's more a modern sense of where we are today and where we want to go in the future. So I try to choose projects somewhere around that space.
I'm always good at seeing five, ten steps ahead. Like, really thinking ahead, you know? Reverse engineering, whatever it is, you know.
I love Newark, but it was easy to get caught up in the wrong situation. You know, when you come from very humble beginnings, you always have that fear that everything could go away at any moment.