Michael B. Jordan

An assured and mature actor from an early age, Michael B. Jordan brought the complex web of heartbreak and triumph inherent to young, disadvantaged black men to vivid life in a number of acclaimed performances. Jordan has starred in two of the most significant television dramas of the past decade. First, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the hard-shelled, softhearted young urbanite Wallace in HBO's dramatic hit series "The Wire." He then went on to star as quarterback Vince Howard on NBC's "Friday Night Lights." Most recently, he played Alex, a recovered alcoholic, on NBC's "Parenthood."

Graced with the opportunity to begin a professional acting career early in his life, he caught the eye of Bill Cosby and was cast as Michael in the CBS sitcom series "Cosby" in 1999. Almost simultaneously, he appeared on the HBO series "The Sopranos." The following year, he was selected from hundreds of hopefuls to play Jamal in the Paramount Pictures feature film, Hardball, which starred Keanu Reeves.

In 2003, Jordan became the youngest African American actor to be contracted with the ABC network daytime drama series, "All My Children." In that show, he played the role of Reggie, Jackson Montgomery's adopted son. He later moved to Los Angeles where he soon landed a lead role in the independent film Blackout, which starred Melvin Van Peebles, Jeffrey Wright, and Zoe Saldana. In the fall of 2007, he was cast "The Assistants." He also appeared in his first feature film when he was cast in Rockmund Dunbar's ensemble Pastor Brown which premiered in the American Black Film Festival in the summer of 2009. He has had guest appearance roles for "CSI," "Cold Case," "Lie to Me," "Without a Trace" and "Law & Order."

In February 2012, Jordan starred in 20th Century Fox's feature film Chronicle, a supernatural thriller that follows three Portland teens as they develop incredible powers after exposure to a mysterious substance. Additionally, Jordan was featured in George Lucas' Redtails, the story of the first African American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during WWII aka The Tuskegee Airmen.

At the start of 2013, Jordan garnered critical raves at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival for his performance in Fruitvale Station. In the film, he plays Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old victim of the infamous 2009 police shooting on the Oakland, California, transit system. For his work in the film by first time writer-director Ryan Coogler, the young actor was soon generating Oscar buzz on the festival circuit. In 2014, he starred in the film That Awkward Moment alongside Zac Efron and Miles Teller. Jordan was cast as Johnny Storm / The Human Torch in Marvel's 2015 film, Fantastic Four.

Also in 2015, he starred as boxer Adonis Creed in the Rocky movie Creed. In Marvel's hit 2018 movie * Black Panther*, Jordan played the villain, Erik Killmonger. Jordan also stars in the 2021 movie Without Remorse, based on the book by Tom Clancy, as John Clark, a former Navy SEAL and director of the elite counterterrorism unit Rainbow Six.

Jordan received NAACP Image Award Nominations for "Outstanding Male Actor in a Television Daytime Drama Series" in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Jordan portrayed attorney Bryan Stevenson in a legal drama, Just Mercy, which he also co-produced. The film was released in December 2019 to critical acclaim.

In 2020, Jordan was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine and The New York Times ranked him #15 on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.