Conversations with Michael B. Jordan (2018)

Career Q&A with Michael B. Jordan on December 6, 2018. Moderated by Jenelle Riley, Variety.

Actor, producer, CEO and visionary Michael B. Jordan most recently starred in Marvel’s Black Panther for which he received critical acclaim for his role as Erik Killmonger. It marked Jordan’s third feature directed by Ryan Coogler. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios in February 2018 and went on to make over $1.3 billion worldwide. 

In 2015, Jordan starred in MGM and Warner Bros.’ Creed alongside Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson. For his performance directed by Coogler, Jordan garnered numerous accolades including the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture and the NAACP’s Entertainer of the Year Award. Jordan will reprise his role as Adonis Creed and serve as an executive producer in Creed II, which is set to release on November 21, 2018. 

Later this year, Jordan is set to begin production on the upcoming Warner Bros. legal drama Just Mercy, directed by Destin Crettin. Based on the book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Jordan will play Bryan Stevenson, a gifted young lawyer’s defense of the most vulnerable in our country and his fight for equal justice in a flawed legal system. Additionally, he will star in 20th Century Fox’s A Bittersweet Life, an action-thriller remake of the cult classic 2005 Korean film, and will reteam with Coogler in Wrong Answer, which follows the true story of how Atlanta high school educators participated in an intricate, systemic standardized-test cheating scandal in 2013. 

Jordan garnered industry-wide attention for his breakout role in Fruitvale Station, which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival in 2013 among other accolades that year. The film, which marked his first collaboration with Coogler, is an account of Oscar Grant's controversial slaying by police officers on a San Francisco train platform. For his performance as Oscar, Jordan took home the award for Breakthrough Actor at the 2013 National Board of Review Awards, the 2013 Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Actor. 

In 2016, Jordan launched his own production company, Outlier Society Productions, with a multiyear first-look deal with Skydance Media. Jordan is currently executive producing and will guest star in the sci-fi hour-long series Raising Dion, which has a straight-to-series order from Netflix. Through Outlier Society, Jordan will make his feature film directorial debut and produce the film adaptation of the David Barclay Moore novel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet. He is also slated to executive produce the forthcoming untitled drama series for the Oprah Winfrey Network from Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, the animated Skydance project Super Day Care, and the upcoming anime-style 3D series Gen:Lock in which Jordan will also voice the main character Julian Chase. 

His previous film credits include 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox’s box office hit Chronicle, Focus Features’ That Awkward Moment and the George Lucas produced film Redtails. Jordan also starred in three of television’s most critically acclaimed shows of all time – HBO’s dramatic hit series The Wire and NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. In May 2018, Jordan starred as Guy Montag in the Emmy-nominated HBO Films’ adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. Directed by Ramin Bahrani, Jordan also served as an executive producer.