Michael B. Jordan is celebrating the first Golden Globe nomination of his career and is giving a lot of credit to a role that propelled him further than ever before.
The actor earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for playing twins Smoke and Stack in sinnersthe great box office success that exceeded 367 million dollars at the box office.
Jordan admitted that the project surprised him from the beginning.
When director Ryan Coogler called with the idea, he didn’t expect to take on two roles.
“When Ryan first called me about the role, it was a bit of a shock,” she shared. He said thinking about it made him anxious, but “sometimes those nerves are a good thing.”
He was excited about the challenge and Coogler made it clear that he wanted to take him out of his comfort zone.
The actor and the filmmaker have already made five films together, starting with Fruitvale Station in 2013, the film that helped launch Jordan’s career as a mainstream star.
He explained that Coogler understood his desire to continue growing creatively.
“Ryan knew he wanted to grow and evolve as an actor, and this was definitely an opportunity… to show me a range to develop two different characters.”
Building Smoke and Stack required Jordan to dig deep emotionally. Both characters are World War I veterans turned Chicago gangsters who return home to Clarksdale, Mississippi, only to find a darker threat in the 1932 South.
The actor said their personalities are shaped by trauma, something he believes everyone can relate to on some level.
That trauma led to very different personas: Smoke as the fatherly, protective older brother, and Stack as the more charismatic risk-taker.
“There was a little bit of heaviness, but also a lightness,” Jordan explained. “They are two different characters but they form a single person. Their dynamic is very special and cultivated.”
With sinners Having proven to be a huge box office hit and awards attention now coming, Jordan’s leap into a demanding dual performance has clearly paid off.
For him, this recognition not only marks a major milestone, but also a moment that reflects the bold artistic risks he continues to take.
