A short clip of Michael B. Jordan sharing the downsides of completely diving into an acting role has taken social media by storm.
The Hollywood heartthrob recently became the talk of the town after his three-year-old interview with “BigBoyTV” with Jamie Foxx resurfaced online.
Halfway through his 51-minute conversation, Jordan candidly explained how he developed depression while preparing for his role as superhero villain Erik Killmonger in Marvel’s “Black Panther.” He also revealed how he managed to “come out” of the dark experience.
“There’s no blueprint for it,” Jordan said. “I take every job as a learning experience. You know I try to learn something from each one; I try to, I try to grow and I try to grow in – I never knew that I had to come out of a character.”
People magazine’s former “Sexiest Man Alive” continued, “That was the first time I was actually like, not feeling like myself and I was like ‘Man, I’m like depressed.’ ”
Jordan confessed to isolating himself in order to get into the headspace of Killmonger, a character he summed up as an emotionless antagonist. Unfortunately for the 36-year-old, once it was time to move on from the character, he struggled to do so.
“That was a guy that I really cut off a lot of emotions and love you know from a lot of people,” he said. “And then coming out of it I had to kind of … I had to get used to being around family members and friends and being normal and talking about, about regular stuff and it was like it was a whole different thing.”
As his explanation proceeded, the “Creed” actor shined a light on therapy, which he said helped him receive the tools he needed to overcome this “beast.”
“Therapy was something that definitely helped me kind of get out of that and kind of get a clean slate,” Jordan noted.
His vulnerable revelation was shared on The Jasmine Brand’s Instagram page and love came pouring in. Many fans suggested that Jordan’s struggle made sense due to his successful technique of fully putting himself in a role. One person wrote, “Considering they play the roles so well, it makes sense that it affects them. Gotta make role reality to appear realistic.”
Another person penned, “That’s why most actors end up crazy frfr. Takes a psychological tool.”
It’s amazing the effort Hollywood actors put into their acting.
— David||Raconteur (@DavidOnyesom) July 27, 2023
They legit had to become their characters.
I heard Michael B. Jordan wasn’t himself anymore after playing Kill Monger.
Had to get therapy to find himself again.
That’s just crazy to me.
Jordan has had a few challenging roles to play throughout his time in Hollywood. When he was just a teenager, he played 16-year-old Wallace in the 2005 drama series “The Wire.” His character was apparently used as an emotional piece for the show’s first season.
Wallace’s fate in “The Wire” abruptly ended after he was killed by his young friends Bodie and Poot, portrayed respectively by J.D. Williams and Tray Chaney.
Jordan also played in the 2013 biographical drama film “Fruitvale Station” as the main character Oscar Grant. This story followed the real-life events of Grant, who was stopped and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer on New Year’s Day back in 2009.
According to the cop, he mistook his gun for a Taser before putting a bullet in Grant’s back.
Jordan also made an epic return as Erik Killmonger for a quick scene during “Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever,” which released in 2022.
Earlier this year, Jordan’s name was plastered everywhere as preparation for the third installation of the “Creed” movies. Since then, he has maintained a low profile, but was recently spotted out at a basketball game in Abu Dhabi.
While there he ran into Steve Harvey, the stepfather of his ex-girlfriend, Lori Harvey’s, prompting fans to urge him and Lori to give their relationship another try.
The pair was together for nearly two years before calling it quits. It’s been said that the reason for their split revolved around Jordan wanting to settle down while the SKN by LH founder still wanted to play the field.
