It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Michael B. Jordan had to fight for roles. Clearly, after his scene-stealing performance in this year’s monster hit “Black Panther,” Jordan has the opportunity to do whatever he wants. But back when he was in the middle of working on Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station,” the actor had one specific mandate he would tell his agents, who were on the lookout for his next gigs – only show him roles written for white men.
That’s right, in a new interview with Variety (conducted by “Insecure” actress Issa Rae), Jordan explains why he only wanted to go after roles that were written for white males. “I said, I don’t want it. I want to only go for, like, [roles written for] white males. That’s it,” he said. “Me playing that role is going to make it what it is. I don’t want any pre-bias on the character.”
Jordan was so adamant about the selection criteria that he refused to look at any roles written specifically for black males. And when you look at his IMDB around that time, it appears that his insistence paid off. Jordan starred in “Chronicle,” which as he says in the interview was written for a white actor, and he was part of the “Fantastic Four” reboot film (yes, it was horrible, but that’s neither here nor there) where he played Johnny Storm, who has historically been a white character.
Rae also took the time to explain how she would not even bother with “leading” roles because she assumed that casting directors weren’t looking for women like her. “If it were a leading woman of a certain type, I just knew the type that they would go for, so I’m just not going to even bother,” Rae said.
She continues by saying that the success of “Black Panther” has changed her outlook, however. “People have been receptive. Even just the confidence that a movie like [“Black Panther”] and other films by other filmmakers of color that have come out have really just changed what people perceive as a leading lady, as the beautiful person, the daring or the bold action-adventure type. That just feels so dope to me,” she explains.
Other than “Black Panther,” Jordan was recently seen in HBO’s “Fahrenheit 451,” and is currently in the middle of filming “Creed 2.”