Michael B. Jordan on legacy, craft, and the weight of an Oscar

Sitting in the front row of the Oscars press room, I saw it up close — the kind of moment that silences a room before it explodes.

Michael B. Jordan walked in holding his Oscar.

The room stood. Applause rolled like thunder. It lasted nearly a full minute.

Jordan smiled, almost shyly, then adjusted the gold statue — eight and a half pounds of it — in the crook of his arm.

For Jordan, 39, who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and worked his way from early roles in “The Wire” and “Friday Night Lights” to defining performances in “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” and “Black Panther,” the moment felt like something deeper than a victory lap.

It sounded like respect.

Here is what the Oscar winner said in his own voice. This interview has been lightly 

edited for clarity.

Q: I watched the film again last night before I came today. What kind of mental exercises did it take for you to create the nuances of the different personalities of these two characters?

Michael B. Jordan: That’s a great question. I write a lot of journals for my characters — their backstories. I try to go from the earliest memory I can conjure up and write all the way up to the first page of the script. It gives me an opportunity to figure out where they’re coming from, and that informs a lot of the decisions. For these particular characters, I did a lot of chakra work around their childhood trauma just to differentiate the two of them. Smoke is a bit more quiet. He’s a protector. Stack is lighter, more buoyant, slick-talking — kind of a troublemaker. So I tried to establish different perspectives. They’ve had a relationship their entire lives. Imagine being in a partnership for thirty-something years — how many times they’d argue, how many times they’d keep score on who was right or wrong. All those little things build up, and that’s what I wanted to live between the lines, those nuances between them. Yeah, there’s some other stuff that’s probably boring and you don’t want to hear about, but that’s a little bit of the work.

Q: Michael, you make us proud.

Michael B. Jordan: Thank you.

Q: Nathan Hale Williams recently said, “Please stop telling Black people not to desire Oscars.” As someone who just won tonight, what does this recognition mean to you and to other writers and artists coming up?

Michael B. Jordan: It feels timely. Like I said before, I’m here because of the people who came before me — Sidney [Poitier], Denzel [Washington], Halle Berry, Forest [Whitaker] — all those actors who graced this stage. They weren’t looking for awards or acknowledgment. They were artists. They wanted to do the work. That’s what I focus on — doing the work. My father always told me: don’t expect anything to be handed to you. Do the work, and everything else will figure itself out. And yeah, there’s a selfishness in understanding that this — this is the pinnacle of what we do. This is what our industry values. You want that. But at the same time, what’s for you is for you. You can’t take anyone else’s blessings. I’m just walking my path, staying locked in. So I’d tell other actors and artists, whatever your medium is, be honest, be truthful, dream big, and be kind. I really believe in pouring into the universe, and it pours back into you. That’s how I live.

Q: You receive an incredible amount of support from fans and colleagues. What does it mean to have so many people rooting for you?

Michael B. Jordan: It feels great. Honestly, it feels incredible. I’ve been blessed. When you know people are invested in you, it hits different. I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years, and a lot of folks have seen me grow up in this business. They looked out for me when they didn’t have to. They wanted me to win when they didn’t have to. That goodwill — that energy — it matters. From the assistants responding to emails, to whoever’s opening the door letting you in, to the producers taking meetings, all of it builds something. People have been genuine with me, and it makes me want to make them proud — my parents, Ryan [Coogler], my collaborators, myself, and the kids coming up next. I’m really big on the next generation. I’m not a big talker. I’m about that action. I try to lead by example.

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