One of Michael B. Jordan’s most memorable roles also happened to have the most profound effect on him.
During an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” on Sunday (Jan. 4), the 38-year-old reflected on his career and, in particular, the role of Erik Killmonger in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther.” Nearly a decade after the blockbuster film was released, the role still holds a sense of attachment for Jordan, who says it’s a part that remains with him.
“It kind of stuck with me for a bit,” he told CBS correspondent Tracy Smith. “And, you know, went to therapy and talked about it. Found a way to kind of just decompress, I think at that point still learning that I needed to decompress from a character.”
The trip to therapy after playing Killmonger, a black ops mercenary who is the cousin of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, who ultimately attempts to take over Wakanda with brute force, opened up a new world for the actor, one he finds necessary, especially for men.
“I think it’s good for them to go and talk,” he said. “That’s something I’m not ashamed of at all, and very proud of. And definitely helped me trying to be a good communicator and a well-rounded person, inside and out.”
“Black Panther,” which celebrates its 8th anniversary in February, became the first Marvel film to earn a Best Picture nomination and earn an Academy Award. The film elevated the profiles of Boseman, Coogler, and Jordan, helping to pave the way for continued success for Coogler and Jordan, whose partnership has garnered Oscar buzz for “Sinners.” Delroy Lindo said that the duo is just getting started.
Therapy, ironically enough, wasn’t only reserved for playing Killmonger in Jordan’s world. Tessa Thompson, who jokingly referred to the actor as her “work husband,” revealed that the two had gone to couples therapy ahead of filming for the third Creed film.
“The line sometimes between character and us get blurred because we bring so much of what we’re exploring personally to the characters in general,” she told Refinery29 in 2023.
“I’ll say it was an early experience in couples therapy for us both [personally], but it was as these characters, which is very weird,” she said. “But I think it reminded us of our own personal lives that going to therapy, even when a relationship is good, can be a good thing if you’re trying to just sharpen communication and figure out how someone works. It’s useful in so many relationships.”
It’s unclear whether Jordan had to go to therapy after Sinners, in which he plays two different characters, or three, if you include Stack as a vampire. However, his advocacy for mental health echoes the sentiments of many Black men in Hollywood and beyond.
