On fire: Michael B. Jordan’s sizzling new role as star and producer in Farenheit 451
Michael B. Jordan joins a new generation of - diverse - leading men, celebrating his “moment” at this week’s Met Gala in New York. See him next in a new HBO drama, Farenheit 451.
Confidential
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MICHAEL B. Jordan looks particularly sprightly for a man who hasn’t had a lot of sleep.
The night before he had attended the Met Gala in New York, mixing it with the likes of Madonna, George Clooney, and er, the Kardashians, and he’s still coming down from the experience.
“It was awesome and so much fun,” he enthuses, kicking back at the HBO offices in mid-town Manhattan. “It was sort of weird because you’re not allowed to bring a guest, so you’re sort of standing there like you’re at your first day of school and your parents have dropped you off and everybody has to go and make friends with the popular kids.”
For Jordan, however, there was another more satisfying call for celebration.
“There were so many black faces there – you know, other actors that are having moments in their careers.
“It was so good to see [Black Panther cast mates] Chadwick [Boseman] and Lupita [Nyong’o] ... Donald Glover was there, John Boyega [from Star Wars], Janelle Monae … Everybody just being there together and having a moment; it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed ourselves last night. It was cool. It felt like our night.”
Forget the collective: right now, Jordan is having a serious moment of his own. His recent performance as the super villain Erik Killmonger in this year’s mega blockbuster Black Panther, has seen the 31-year-old quickly join the ranks of Hollywood’s new – and diverse - generation of leading men.
But if you’ve been taking notice, the New Jersey-born actor’s ascent should be of little surprise.
He was the beloved-yet-doomed Wallace in the seminal TV series, The Wire, before going on to play Vince, a Texas high school football star weighed down by racism and poverty in the superb Friday Night Lights.
(A foray into daytime TV’s All My Children is probably best forgotten.)
But it was his riveting performance in the real-life story of Oscar Grant, a young father who, though unarmed, was shot dead by Oakland transit police in the acclaimed film, Fruitvale Station that really forced Hollywood to sit up and take notice.
“This moment, I’ve worked my whole life for it,” Jordan says, animatedly. “People say I should take a rest, but why? Things are moving.”
Now his latest project - in which he both stars and produces - is a made-for-HBO movie (to air here on Foxtel), Fahrenheit 451, based on the 1953 Ray Bradbury dystopian classic.
It’s a full-circle moment for Jordan whose first major role on The Wire came via HBO.
In fact, he was cast on the very floor we’re speaking on.
“Being able to start my career off being cast by HBO in The Wire and now being able to produce an HBO show years later is a big deal for me.”
In Fahrenheit 451, Jordan plays Guy Montag, a fireman who doesn’t put out any fires, but rather burns books as part of a government conspiracy to keep the general public sedated and happy through a lack of knowledge, all the while encouraging an addiction to screens.
Jordan felt the story was timely, but he had reservations.
“The first time I read it I couldn’t help but see Montag going on raids and snatching up people that, in my mind, I immediately imagined as people with black or brown faces,” he explains.
“That bothered me especially with police brutality in my community - I just didn’t want to portray an authoritative figure. But when [director] Ramin [Bahrani] explained his vision to me – that everyone was at risk - I got it, and I had to let go of my own prejudices. I looked at this role as an opportunity to help change thought and the way people think and perceive certain things and that’s one of the main reasons I took it on.”
Oscar and Golden Globe-nominee Michael Shannon, who plays Montag’s mentor-with-a-secret, Captain Beatty, says the role became even more appealing when Jordan signed on.
“I just thought he’d be interesting to work with. And he’s also very thoughtful and just a real gentleman. I’ve had other experiences with people who weren’t so, shall we say, generous,” Shannon says later, with a smirk.
“He comes into it without any airs about him or without any attitude. It’s like it’s the first job he ever had and he takes it seriously. He’s a real decent person.”
Indeed, Jordan has a strong desire to give back.
His production company, Outlier Society Productions, announced in March it will adopt “inclusion riders” for all future projects.
Frances McDormand mentioned the concept during her Best Actress speech at the Oscars, which is explained as a clause in an actor’s contract where they can set out diversity requirements for the cast and crew before committing to a project.
For Jordan, it was a no-brainer.
“It’s crazy because being a person of colour, it was something that I was going to do with my company anyway,” he says.
“But the fact that there was something that I could do that’s structured, that I could actually implement and put into action, I felt like it was an example I could set for the rest of the industry to follow. I walk the walk, you know what I’m saying? I practice what I preach.”
And with that Jordan heads off, hoping to get a quick nap in before staring down the barrel of a 5am call-time the following day on the Philadelphia set of Creed II where he is reprising his role as Adonis Creed, opposite Sylvester Stallone, in a continuation of the Rocky Balboa cinematic story.
“I better get some sleep,” he says, with a grin. “I’m about to get beaten up tomorrow.”
* Farenheit 451, 9.30pm, Monday, May 28, Foxtel’s Showcase.
Originally published as On fire: Michael B. Jordan’s sizzling new role as star and producer in Farenheit 451
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