Michael B. Jordan

Michael Bakari Jordan (born February 9, 1987) is an American actor and producer.

Michael Bakari Jordan was born on February 9, 1987, in Santa Ana, California, to Donna and Michael A. Jordan.

He has an older sister and a younger brother.

His family lived in Santa Ana, CA for two years before moving to Newark, NJ where Jordan grew up.

He attended Newark Arts High School, where his mother worked as a teacher, and where he also played basketball.

Jordan worked as a child model for several companies and brands, including Modell's Sporting Goods and Toys "R" Us, before deciding to embark on a career as an actor.

He launched his career as a professional actor in 1999, when he appeared briefly in single episodes of the television series Cosby and The Sopranos.

His first principal film role followed in 2001 when he was featured in Hardball, which starred Keanu Reeves.

Jordan initially broke out in television, playing Wallace in the first season of the HBO crime drama series The Wire (2002).

In 2002, he gained more attention by playing the small but pivotal role of Wallace in the first season of HBO's The Wire.

He went on to play Reggie Montgomery on the ABC soap opera All My Children (2003–2006) and Vince Howard in the NBC sports drama series Friday Night Lights (2009–2011).

In March 2003, he joined the cast of All My Children, replacing Chadwick Boseman, playing Reggie Montgomery, a troubled teenager, until June 2006 when Jordan was released from his contract.

Jordan's other credits include guest starring appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace and Cold Case.

Thereafter, he had a lead role in the independent film Blackout and starred in The Assistants on The-N.

In 2008, Jordan appeared in the music video "Did You Wrong" by R&B artist Pleasure P.

In 2009, Jordan began starring in the NBC drama Friday Night Lights as quarterback Vince Howard, and lived in an apartment in Austin where the show was filmed.

In 2009, he guest-starred on Burn Notice in the episode "Hot Spot", playing a high school football player who got into a fight and is being hunted by a local gangster.

In 2010, he was considered one of the 55 faces of the future by 'Nylon'' Magazines Young Hollywood Issue.

In 2010, he guest-starred in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Inhumane Society" as a boxer involved in a Michael Vick-inspired dog fighting scandal.

That year, he landed a recurring role on the NBC show Parenthood playing Alex (Haddie Braverman's love interest).

This marked his second collaboration with showrunner Jason Katims, who was in charge of Friday Night Lights.

He played the character for two seasons until the show ended in 2011.

BuddyTV ranked him #80 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".

Jordan voiced Jace in the Xbox 360 game Gears of War 3.

His other films include Chronicle (2012), That Awkward Moment (2014), Fantastic Four (2015), and Just Mercy (2019), in which he portrayed Bryan Stevenson.

In 2012, Jordan appeared in the George Lucas-produced film Red Tails and played lead character Steve Montgomery in Chronicle, a film about three teenaged boys who develop superhuman abilities.

He also guest-starred in an episode of House final season, playing a blind patient.

He is best known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station (2013), boxer Adonis Creed in Creed (2015), and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018), all of which were written and directed by Ryan Coogler.

In 2013, Jordan starred as shooting victim Oscar Grant in Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler.

His performance garnered critical acclaim, with Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stating that Jordan reminded him of "a young Denzel Washington".

Following his role in Fruitvale Station, Jordan was named an "actor to watch" by People and Variety.

Time magazine named him with Coogler one of 30 people under 30 who are changing the world, and he was also named one of 2013's breakout stars by Entertainment Weekly and GQ.

In 2015, he starred as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in Fantastic Four.

The film was universally panned by critics, holding a 9% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was a bust at the box office.

However, later in 2015, Jordan rebounded with critical acclaim when he starred as Donnie Creed, the son of boxer Apollo Creed in the seventh Rocky film, Creed, his second collaboration with Coogler, which co-starred Sylvester Stallone.

Jordan reprised his role of Creed in Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023); the latter also marked his directorial debut.

He has also starred in and produced the HBO film Fahrenheit 451 (2018), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.

Jordan was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020 and 2023.

Also in 2020, he was named People's Sexiest Man Alive, and The New York Times ranked him 15th on its list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century.

Jordan is also a co-owner of English Premier League football club AFC Bournemouth.