Michael B. Jordan is currently one of the most prolific actors working in Hollywood. In the past few years, the actor has made it big in the film industry, big enough to play the role of Kilmonger in MCU’s Black Panther. Michael B. Jordan has also played the role of Adonis Creed in Creed (2015), which had some heavy-weight names such as Sylvester Stallone, Thessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, and more attached to it.
Michael B. Jordan made some shocking revelations about the character he played in the Black Panther movie, and how immensely this role had affected him.
What did Michael B. Jordan say About his Role in the MCU?
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Michael B. Jordan opened up about the role of Killmonger in the MCU. The actor believes that he can relate to the character, and even felt that the argument was right. He said, he “didn’t think [the villain’s] argument was completely wrong,” however, he wasn’t sure if he would return in the sequel as his character was killed at the end of the first film.
“[not even] know[ing] if [a return was] a possibility.”
Michael B. Jordan further revealed that playing the role of Killmonger aided him in access to the pain, as well as the ‘unapologetic frustration’ and ‘anger’ he bottled up over the years. However, the frustration brought sadness as its after-effects. He continued and revealed that he isolated himself from his family and children and away from all those things which his character was deprived of and brought him trauma.
“Killmonger allowed me to access the pain. And the unapologetic frustration that I had. But then, obviously, there’s a sadness that comes along with that. I dove into that for a lot longer than I ever had before. So coming out of that [role] it was hard to want love. Because during shooting I kept myself from family and children, and away from everything that Killmonger never had.”
The actor didn’t expect he could portray personal and societal trauma with such perfection in one of the biggest franchises of Hollywood, saying, “never thought a n**** from North Jersey’d be able to [do].”
Michael B. Jordan continued how he had to work with the aftereffects of Killmonger’s role during his shooting as Adonis Creed in Creed. He explained that Adonis Creed is black in the world, and he is trying to start a family while dealing with his childhood trauma, while having difficulty in expressing himself, and for some vague reason, he feels less and not worthy of anything.
“So this is what Adonis is the most current iteration of. He is Black in the world. He has to work through the aftereffects of what Killmonger was fighting for, and how Oscar wasn’t seen or respected. Adonis is trying to start a family, and dealing with childhood trauma, not knowing how to talk and not knowing how to express himself. Not knowing why he feels less, why doesn’t he feel worthy.”
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey on SuperSoul Conversations tour in 2019, Michael B. Jordan revealed he underwent therapy to recover from the emotional toll, “I went to therapy, I started talking to people, starting unpacking a little bit.”
He continued that Erik Killmonger’s perspective of being an African-American in America was different from Adonis Creed’s perspective.
“Of course it’s an extreme, exaggerated version of the African diaspora from the African-American perspective, so to be able to take that kind of pain and rage and all those emotions that Erik kind of represents from being black and brown here in America … that was something I didn’t take lightly.”
Michael B. Jordan revealed that he did not ‘have a process’ to get into the role of Erik Killmoneger, and simply did what was necessary. And therefore he didn’t know how to get out of the role.
“I didn’t have a process” for being Killmonger. I just did whatever I felt I needed to do or whatever I felt was right in the moment every step of the way.”
He also said that he had to readjust about people loving and caring about him, as he had to shut out his emotions, and made himself as lonely as possible. He concluded by saying getting professional help aided him immensely.
“It was a little tough for me at first. Readjusting to people caring about me, getting that love that I shut out. I shut out love, I didn’t want love. I wanted to be in this lonely place as long as I could.”
“Your mind is so powerful. Your mind will get your body past a threshold that it would have given up on way before. Honestly, therapy, just talking to somebody just helped me out a lot. As a man you get a lot of slack for it. … I don’t really subscribe to that. Everyone needs to unpack and talk.”
It is utterly impressive how dedicated Michael B. Jordan is as an actor, and how he will go to extreme lengths to portray his role perfectly.
Can the fans expect Michael B. Jordan to return as Erik Killmonger?
Even though the role of Erik Killmonger was difficult for Michael B. Jordan, turns out the actor didn’t regret his decision. In spite of the role playing a massive part in the actor’s emotional and mental health, he is delighted to portray such characters who display such harsh realities, especially what it means to be black in the modern world.
The MCU fans loved Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger. It is hard to say if the actor would return to the MCU, following the series of events of Black Panther 2, but there’s a possibility that the actor may return to the franchise. However, everything depends on the big names at Marvel Studios.
Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever can be streamed on Disney+.
Source: Rolling Stone
