Michael B. Jordan plays the villainous Killmonger in Black Panther, which is coming out next month. In my mind, MBJ is already a huge f–king deal. He should have gotten his first Oscar nomination for Fruitvale Station, and his performance in Creed should have launched him straight to the top of the A-list. But MBJ is building his career and he’s doing it the right way – he wants to be able to work for decades, and he wants to build a CV that he can be proud of. I don’t hate the fact that he signed on to play a Marvel villain, is what I’m saying. Look at what that did for Tom Hiddleston’s career. Anyway, to promote Black Panther, MBJ covers the new issue of WSJ. Magazine. The interview is paywalled, but if you’re a WSJ subscriber, you can read the piece here. Some highlights:
How he prepared to play Erik Killmonger: Playing a villain was “something I’ve never done before,” Jordan says. To prep, he studied great villain performances, like Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight and Michael Fassbender in…a lot of Michael Fassbender things. “I felt competitive,” Jordan says. “I wanted to build a performance that people will remember. Something different. Grow my hair out? Cool. I’ll grow my hair for a year. Put on 20 pounds? I’ll put on 20 pounds.”
On gaining 20 pounds of muscle for Black Panther: “Chest, shoulders, back. My legs a little bit, my quads. I was just, like, massive…It’s a job, man…You really have to diet. It’s hard to be social. You have to drink a gallon and a half of water. When you’re drinking a gallon and a half of water a day, you know how many times you have to use the bathroom? It’s annoying.”On his relationship status: “Dating, but technically single. L.A. isn’t the best place to date…No offense to L.A.”
On the industry in 2018: “It’s the best time to be a person of color in Hollywood who’s creative and has original projects. Everybody wants that right now. That’s how I feel – I feel like it’s a timing thing. I’m ambitious. I see what actors I look up to have, the types of platforms they have and their ability to create and tell stories they want — I want that. Why not?
[From WSJ. Magazine and JustJared]
I sometimes daydream about nestling myself into the “V” of Michael B. Jordan’s shoulders, chest and abdomen. Am I the only one? He has the best upper half of any male celebrity, I swear to God. His shoulders, his arms, his chest… sigh. So, yeah, he gained 20 pounds of taut muscle on top of that. Bless him. I hope there are long, lingering shots of Shirtless Killmonger as he rubs oil on his body. Too much?
Instagrams courtesy of Wall Street Journal.
I died a little inside when I saw his horrible 2008 Skrillex haircut in the Black Panther trailer. Worse hair couldn’t have happened to a more attractive man!
I have a head canon that he’s a villain because someone made fun of his hair. 😁
I kid, I’m sure he’ll be very good. To be honest I’m more interested in the TV adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 he’s doing. That has the opportunity to be 10000x more thoughtful and interesting than any Marvel movie. That’s one problem for movie actors looking for movie stardom, the far more interesting work is on TV.
Or maybe women just don’t want you in real life (outside of internet bandwagoning) because you don’t respect them?
What makes you say that? I don’t know much about him, just that he’s a good actor in what Ive seen.
I’m not sure what Sara’s referring to, but it may be this: http://www.celebitchy.com/448599/michael_b_jordan_says_words_about_the_females_douchebaggy_or_fine/
For what it’s worth, I didn’t think what he said was bad. Using “females” to refer to women is disrespectful, but everything else he said is true whether it sounds nice or not. He spoke candidly, specifically about his own experience, which is made clear here: “And it’s weird, because I’m the same guy. I haven’t f–king changed, right? I haven’t done anything different.”
I was rather impressed, because in those few sentences he displayed an awareness of his situation and those around him, and prudence when it comes to starting relationships.
I’m sure the women say the same thing about men in L.A.
Dating in LA is really hard, from what my friends have told me. It’s not that people aren’t real. It’s that people have forgotten they are real and don’t want to admit they are flawed. That’s the human experience, but it’s amplified in LA, where image is everything and and the image you cultivate, what you wear, where you hang out, who you know, who you date, makes or breaks you.
I am from LA and I can second that!
Please elaborate. I’ve heard that before and I’m trying to understand.
Excited to see this movie. I think everyone agrees that it is hard to date in LA, at least if you are in (or orbit) the industry. I lived there for many years and definitely saw it. Everyone also thinks someone wants something from them (a connection, an introduction to someone else, etc.) that it can make you jaded. My group of friends hung out with some celebrities and they called me “lady lawyer”–they liked that I wasn’t in the industry and didn’t want anything from them.
But then again, dating is hard everywhere.
I never had a hard time dating here. I just steered clear of the “industry types” (though even a few of those can be nice.) A lot of people here do that, and are as down to earth, open minded, kind, compassionate and interesting as people I’ve met anywhere else. (The thing I found most striking about moving here, to the U.S,, from eastern Europe is that so many people *smile* here, and seems friendly. That used to make me feel that they were phony, though it is mostly a cultural difference.) I love, too, that there are people from so many backgrounds out here—my husband is South African, half black and half Jewish. As for body image being super important here, and status: while it certainly is essential to and exemplified by some, it is just as ubiquitous to see women w/out makeup or elegant clothes doing all sorts of daily things here, and no one looks twice at the way people are dressed. (Or if they do, I’m peacefully oblivious to it!)
I love that he’s starting to look like a beautiful grown ass man. He’s looked like a very handsome young man for so many years. I wish good things for him.
Where’s Wallace? Every time I see his face, I think of that scene with DeAngelo and I have to hold back tears. 🙁
Woo chile. He’s just as fine as he wanna be isn’t he?
Hubby and I can’t wait to see this movie. Also want to see the movie w taraja p Henson. Sorry if I misspelled it.