Hollywood’s handsome hunk, Michael B. Jordan, has landed himself among TIME‘s “100 Most Influential People of 2023” list once again! Jordan secured the spot after a nomination by director Ryan Coogler. The actor has been featured in the 2023 “Artists” issue.
With an impressive essay from Coogler — with whom Jordan worked on Fruitvale Station, Black Panther, and Creed franchises — Jordan led the “Artists” list. The Law & Order: Criminal Intent star also had a close-up shot. The Wakanda hunk donned a black turtleneck as he posed for the camera for the poster.
For the unversed, the Time 100 list is a compilation of the most prominent faces not just in Hollywood, but from around the globe in diverse fields who made a change.
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In an interview with the publication, the Burn Notice actor described how it felt directing Creed III and his acting process.
“As an actor, you try to find characters that you can pull yourself into you, and you can relate to, and you can almost kind of use that as that as a therapeutic opportunity to work through your own personal s**t through a character. You look for those things. And Adonis Creed was that for me. I felt like that was a unique position that I was in,” Jordan opined.
“For me, my expression is through acting, through motion. And I try to live present in that moment, and that”s when it”s for me, is like making a thing. Then you kind of have to divorce yourself, you gotta let go of it, cause it”s out of your control anymore, you gotta give it to the world and the people they have their opinions and this and that, and pick it apart, for whatever reason, and you gotta kind of shut that part of it out,” the actor declared.
About directing, the actor told Coogler, “It’s torture, but at the same time, it’s so much fun. It was the challenge of accomplishing it all. With the multitasking nature of developing the story, trying to stay in shape, and giving all the departments what they individually needed, to go do their job.”
Jordan added, “Every day was a struggle, but honestly, it was the team of people that I had around me that got me through it. You’ve really gotta surround yourself with the right help, so that you can focus on the things you need to focus on. Sometimes that’s doing two things at one time, or three things at one time. It’s just part of the job. Once you step behind the camera, the undertaking that it is, from the outside looking in, it’s tough.”
“With this year’s Creed III, he took on a new role—feature-film director—and handled it with aplomb,” Coogler stated.
“The world sees the press tours, the interviews, and the edited behind-the-scenes footage, but I am deeply familiar with the reality. Marathon conversations with actors. Budget meetings when you realize cutting part of the story is the only way forward. Post-production hours when your own mistakes laugh at you from the footage,” the author added.
“It’s like climbing a mountain summit through enemy territory with your heart exposed. But I knew Mike had it in him. Because over that quarter-century of work, nothing was given to him. Everything was earned. And I strongly believe that his best work is still to come,” Coogler concluded.
This isn’t the first time the 36-year-old actor has been named by Time magazine. Previously in 2020, Jordan was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
On the acting front, Jordan was recently seen in Just Mercy, Without Remorse, Space Jam: A New Legacy, A Journal for Jordan, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Creed III.
