A saint among 'Sinners,' Michael B. Jordan captures first Oscar win
"Sinners" star Michael B. Jordan has had a remarkable Hollywood career over two decades. It was only a matter of time until he won an Oscar.
It's elementary: Two Michael B. Jordans equals one deserving Oscar victory.
Jordan took best actor at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, winning for his dual role as twin gangsters facing a bevy of vampires in Ryan Coogler's acclaimed horror movie "Sinners." It's a definitive highlight in the 39-year-old screen star's Hollywood career, which has enjoyed a slow and steady climb over the past two decades, even though his remarkable talent was there from the start.
"I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith," he said. "To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys. Thank you, everybody in this room, and everybody at home, for supporting me over my career. I feel it."
Jordan also vowed to continue "stepping up" and being "the best version of myself I can be."
Michael B. Jordan receives standing ovation after Oscars win
The star received a huge standing ovation inside the press room after his speech. Reflecting on his win and his 25 years in Hollywood, Jordan said he is "extremely blessed."
"Man ... it feels great," he said, looking at his Oscar. "I always felt like people had a genuine support for me, and it makes me want to make people proud," such as his longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler, his parents and all those to come.
"I'm big on the next generation … I'm about that action," he said.
Taking in the moment, Jordan said he hopes that other artists will "be honest and truthful" and "dream big." He added that he's a big believer in "pouring into the universe and the universe will pour back into you."
"Marty Supreme" star Timothée Chalamet had been an early best actor favorite, following last year's nomination for "A Complete Unknown" and this year's early wins at the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.
However, "Sinners" slowly picked up momentum throughout the Oscar race, leading to best actor and cast wins at the Actor Awards – an event that palpably shifted the awards-season landscape – as well as four Oscars, where the bloodsucker-filled musical period epic also picked up an original screenplay honor for Coogler and awards for cinematography and score.
The Academy could have given Jordan a pair of golden guys, since his performance as Southern siblings is doubly spectacular. In the 1930s-set "Sinners," Smoke and Stack return to their Mississippi hometown, buy a sawmill and open a juke joint, but then have to survive a wild, bloody night when an Irish bloodsucker (Jack O’Connell) crashes the party with his band of the undead.
Jordan creates two distinct personalities with his main characters. Smoke is the more stoic and serious twin, carrying some emotional baggage and revisiting the rest when he gets home. Stack is the sly and cunning one, chatty and quick to grin, unlike his brother, yet certainly with things weighing on him as well.
"Two survival instincts, but just approached differently," Jordan told USA TODAY in an interview last April, adding that he took care to think about how Smoke and Stack’s "earliest childhood traumas" informed their personalities and coping skills.
Has Michael B. Jordan ever won an Oscar?
This is both Jordan's first Oscar nomination and his first win.
Jordan has always been thoughtful in his work, though, even as a youngster. He impressed first on the small screen in the 2000s, playing a teenage drug dealer on HBO’s “The Wire” and a troubled star quarterback on “Friday Night Lights.”
His Hollywood breakthrough – and best work – came by partnering up with Coogler. The 2013 tragic biopic “Fruitvale Station” put both men on the map, then Coogler reinvigorated the “Rocky” franchise with “Creed,” with Jordan playing Apollo Creed’s embattled son opposite Sylvester Stallone’s famed boxing champ.
Coogler’s “Black Panther” leveled them both up again, creating a scintillating rivalry between Chadwick Boseman’s title superhero and Jordan’s antagonistic mercenary Erik Killmonger. Thanks to Coogler’s writing, as well as Jordan’s emotional depth and vicious charm, Killmonger still arguably the best villain to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Sinners” is the pinnacle of that relationship, even as Jordan pursues his own career as a filmmaker of growing renown. He directed himself in “Creed III,” crafting a breathtaking boxing match influenced by anime (one of Jordan’s favorite things), and is helming a remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” arriving next year.
Jordan is the Denzel Washington of his acting generation, and it was only a matter of time until he heard his name called on Oscar night. Given the breadth of his abilities, it likely won’t be long until it happens again.
Contributing: Ema Sasic