Michael B. Jordan is reflecting on the emotional and creative journey behind his latest collaboration with Ryan Coogler in their film Sinners.
In a new conversation with Deadline, the actor recalled his reaction when Coogler first approached him about taking on the challenge of playing identical twins.
“You hit it right on the head there,” Jordan began.
He went on to describe the deep trust and long-standing creative bond he shares with the filmmaker.
“Ryan knows me very well, and for me, the challenge was definitely the main thing.”
He then acknowledged that the idea immediately stirred mixed emotions.
“It made me nervous, at first. Then, equal parts nervous and excited. I’ve also learned to trust him. He doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean, so when he pitches an idea to me, I know he thought long and hard about it and took a lot into consideration,” he explained.
Jordan added that when Coogler tells him, “Hey, yo, I wrote this for you,” it carries real weight. “How can you not respond as an artist? He’s taken the time to think it through, and he also looks at it from my perspective: I think this is going to be really great for you. This is powerful. I haven’t seen you do anything like this. This is going to be a challenge.”
The actor shared that reading the script affirmed everything Coogler had promised, and pushed him to rise to the occasion. It also became a tribute to their late friend Chadwick Boseman.
“It made me want to see if I could do this… and pay respect to and honor our friend Chadwick Boseman, who passed away,” Jordan reflected.
He noted that sustaining the dialect throughout the film added another emotional layer, as he often asked himself, What would he do?
“It felt that way, specifically because of the need to keep the dialect throughout the course of a film and strive to turn in a performance that was as convincing as the ones he did,” Jordan said. “There’s a level of respect and admiration also, because there was such a connection between us. In so many ways, I am filled with this feeling of, what would he do?”
“This was a level-up, a gear that I need to develop and have with me. So that propelled me even further into that,” he concluded.
