Michael B. Jordan has looked back on the films that shaped him as an artist.
In a new conversation with Termthe Religion star opened up about the two films that have stuck with him most over the years.
‘I immediately think of two: Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. And The Beach, with Leo DiCaprio,” he began.
He then reflected on how certain performances and genres piqued his curiosity as a young actor and gradually pushed him toward the profession.
“Those performances stuck with me. Se7en was a movie that really stuck with me, and Indiana Jones and the Batman movies. James Bond. Big, big, big action and adventure and all those twists and turns,” he said, noting that he initially had no intention of going into acting at all.
“When I started, I didn’t really know I wanted to be an actor, but then I started to fall in love with it, and I got good at it. I got a lot of success early on when I was younger, thank God. And then I started to become more of a student.”
Additionally, Jordan added that international cinema has expanded his understanding of what storytelling could be.
“Foreign films like A Prophet changed my view of what was possible in cinema. Projects like that, actors, influenced me to try to figure out how to do that. Probably around the time of The Wire I decided that this was going to be my only plan and that I was going to be all in.”
The actor recalled moving from TV ensembles to films as he struggled with the internal pressures of defining the kind of artist he wanted to become.
“I did all these television series, was part of an ensemble cast and then came films. And I have this inner dialogue and fear. You’re trying to figure out what kind of actor you want to be, or could be, and then what could you be if things don’t turn out in your favor,” he finally explained.
