Michael B. Jordan

Michael Bakari Jordan was born in Santa Ana, California, and moved with his family to Newark, New Jersey, when he was two years old. His parents are Donna Jordan and Michael A. Jordan. He has an older sister, Jamila, and a younger brother, Khalid.

Jordan attended Newark Arts High School, where he studied drama and played basketball. Before pursuing acting, he appeared in advertisements for companies including Kmart, Modell's Sporting Goods, Toys "R" Us, and Modell's.

Jordan began his professional acting career with brief appearances in Cosby and The Sopranos in 1999. His first principal film role came in Hardball in 2001, in which he played Jamal opposite Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane.

In 2002, he gained wider recognition as Wallace in the first season of HBO's The Wire. He joined the cast of All My Children in 2003 as Reggie Montgomery and remained on the soap opera until 2006. His performance earned three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series.

Jordan played quarterback Vince Howard on NBC's Friday Night Lights from 2009 to 2011. The role established him as a prominent young television actor and followed appearances in programs including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, and Cold Case.

He also had a recurring role as Alex, Haddie Braverman's love interest, on Parenthood. His early film work during this period included Blackout, Red Tails, and Chronicle, in which he played Steve Montgomery, one of three teenagers who develop superhuman abilities.

Jordan's film breakthrough came with Fruitvale Station in 2013, directed by Ryan Coogler. He portrayed Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Black man killed by police at an Oakland train station. The performance received critical acclaim and earned Jordan a Gotham Award and a National Board of Review award for breakthrough performance, along with an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Jordan reunited with Coogler for Creed in 2015, playing Adonis Johnson, the son of boxer Apollo Creed. He trained for more than a year and followed a strict diet to prepare for the role. He reprised the character in Creed II and Creed III, and co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in the franchise.

In Creed III, Jordan also served as producer and made his directorial debut. The film marked a further expansion of his work behind the camera and earned him a NAACP Image Award nomination for directing.

In 2018, Jordan played Erik Killmonger in Marvel's Black Panther, starring alongside Chadwick Boseman. His performance as the film's antagonist received critical acclaim. He later reprised the role in two episodes of What If...? and in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Jordan starred in and executive produced HBO's Fahrenheit 451 in 2018. He portrayed civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy in 2019 and voiced Julian Chase in the animated series Gen:Lock, which he also co-produced.

In Ryan Coogler's Sinners, Jordan played twin brothers in a dual role. He developed distinct movements for the two characters and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the performance, becoming the seventh Black performer to win an Oscar in a leading acting category.

Jordan has lived in Los Angeles since 2006 and has described himself as spiritual. He is a fan of anime, including Naruto: Shippuden and the Dragon Ball franchise, and supports the New York Giants and English Premier League club Everton.

Jordan dated model Lori Harvey beginning in 2020, and the relationship ended in June 2022. He has cited Tom Cruise and Will Smith as career idols and has sought advice from both actors.

In 2022, Jordan became a part-owner of English football club AFC Bournemouth. He led a minority ownership group alongside Kosmos founder Nullah Sarker as part of the consortium led by businessman Bill Foley.

Jordan is also an investor in Alpine's Formula One team, alongside actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.