Over the course of about two hours, Michael B. Jordan relived his 25 years as an actor. “Nobody warns you how crazy this is to see your whole career flash before your eyes,” Jordan said, wiping tears away as he accepted the 39th American Cinematheque Award from his longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler on Thursday night. It had been an emotional day for Jordan, who spent the morning saluting his friend, the late Chadwick Boseman. The Black Panther star, who died in 2020, received a posthumous star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Jordan also has a slice of real estate on that famous stretch of sidewalk. His star was revealed in 2023. He is well-aware of how poignant that moment can be. But as he listened to Coogler, Viola Davis, and Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward-Boseman, speak, Jordan tried to remain “even-keeled” amid all the emotions.
“It makes you reflect and think about time. The time that you have and what you do with that time,” Jordan told Variety on the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton. About the serendipity of the two events taking place just hours apart, he added: “I wouldn’t want to share this day, this moment, with anyone else. I’m actually so happy that it happened on the same day. I’ll never forget it.” The American Cinematheque tribute chronicles Jordan’s achievements in cinema and television over the decades. This included his earliest roles, such as The Wire , Friday Night Lights , All My Children , and his first movie, Hardball . His breakthrough performance came in Coogler’s indie drama Fruitvale Station , which established Jordan as a movie star to watch. Then came roles in box office blockbusters like Black Panther and three Creed movies. He also directed Creed III . This all culminated with this year’s massive hit Sinners . Next, Jordan directs, produces, and stars in a new version of The Thomas Crown Affair .
Family and Colleagues Laud Dedication and Talent
“As we’ve watched his career blossom and grow, each performance gets better and better. And when I first saw Sinners , I said, ‘That’s the best work yet,'” his father, Michael A. Jordan, told Variety . “It wasn’t an overnight thing,” his mother, Donna Jordan, pointed out. “I’ve seen so much of what he did to put the work in. His work ethic is amazing, and I’m most proud of that.” Before Jordan’s tribute, NBC Universal chief Donna Langley honored the Motion Picture Association’s Charles H. Rivkin with the Power of Cinema Award, presented by Hill Valley. Onstage, Rivkin, who was accompanied by his colleagues at the MPA and his son, Eli, cracked before the crowd of studio heads and industry executives: “Let’s face it, like the rest of us, myself included, they’re really here to see Michael B. Jordan.”
Indeed, the A-list lineup of presenters confirmed that the entertainment industry loves Jordan. Ben Affleck kicked off the kudos by sharing how, after watching Fruitvale Station , he’d reached out to the young actor to offer advice about navigating a rapidly progressing career. “In retrospect, it’s clear to me those conversations were much more valuable to me,” Affleck admitted. The Oscar winner also ribbed Jordan’s parents about giving him that name when the other Michael Jordan was already on his way to a legendary basketball career. “This was not an exercise with low expectations,” he quipped. However, Jordan has lived up to the moniker. The parade of Oscar winners continued with Mahershala Ali. He introduced a clip package from Jordan’s first works. “A time before Michael was a multi-hyphenate actor, producer, director; before he became one of the most sought-after leading men and bachelors of Hollywood, a time we all charmingly refer to as the ’90s,” he cracked. Then, Octavia Spencer recalled playing Jordan’s mother in Fruitvale Station . She shared how, when the film ran into financing issues, she became an executive producer on the project. “When you take an inspired and culturally important script and you add a supreme talent like Michael, who I always say is a brilliant character actor with a beautiful, leading man’s face, you make more than a lasting impression. You make a movie that withstands the test of time,” she said.