Ten Things You Didn't Know About Michael B. Jordan
Get to know the star of "Fruitvale Station."
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Ten Things You Didn't Know About Michael B. Jordan - If you watch television, you've probably seen Michael B. Jordan on shows like All My Children and Friday Night Lights. But with his new film Fruitvale Station, produced by Weinstein Company in association with BET Films, the 26-year-old is about to go from working TV actor to major movie star. For his performance as Oscar Grant, a conflicted young man who meets a tragic end in the based-on-true-events film, Jordan has drawn comparisons to heavyweights like Will Smith and Denzel Washington. Get to know this rising star before he blasts out of the stratosphere and onto the A-list. (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety)
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He Grew Up in New Jersey - Though he was born in Santa Ana, California, Jordan spent his formative years in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Newark Arts High School, a performing arts school that counts Savion Glover, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Kat DeLuna among its alumni. "If I had the chance to go to high school again, I would," said Jordan, but added, "I didn't grow up in the suburbs. I'm from a bad area." (Photo: Katy Winn/Getty Images)
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He's a Middle Child - The second of three children born to Donna Jordan, a teacher, and Michael A. Jordan, a caterer, Jordan shares a strong bond with his siblings. “My sister and I did not get along at all when we were growing up, but we are really close now. She understands me,” Jordan says. “It was hard for me not to be there for my brother. That’s something that always sits with me and always will. It’s time I just can’t get back. Without them, I have nothing.” (Photo: Mychal Watts/WireImage)
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The 'B' Stands for Bakari - Just one letter separates Jordan's mail from that of the greatest living athlete on Earth. His middle name, Bakari, is Swahili for "a noble promise." We'd say he's living up to it.(Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images; Steve Granitz/WireImage)
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He Knows How to Tap Dance - Acting isn't the only special talent Jordon possesses. His mother Donna, an arts teacher, encouraged him to pursue many different hobbies. "She made me take tap dancing!" he said, adding that "my mom got me started on a lot of things and it just snowballed." (Photo: Peter Kramer/Getty Images)
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He Got His Start As a Child Model - Before he started booking acting gigs, a pre-teen Jordan appeared in ads for Modell's Sporting Goods and Toys 'R Us. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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His First Acting Gig Was on Cosby - Jordan was twelve when he got his first break in acting, as a recurring character on Cosby. That same year, he booked a guest spot on revered cable drama The Sopranos. (Photo: CBS)
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Meryl Streep Is His Favorite Actress - "Meryl Streep does it for me," Jordan said when asked who he admires in Hollywood. "She makes it look so easy that it's like, is she trying right now? It's so effortless it's ridiculous."(Photos from left: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI, Mark Davis/Getty Images)
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His Role in Chronicle Was Rewritten for Him - Jordan so impressed director Josh Trank when he auditioned for a role in 2012's Chronicle, Trank rewrote one of the leading parts for him. "That role was originally for a white guy," Jordan reveals. "I got it and they changed it. Those are the type of colorless roles that I want, that I'm looking forward to playing." Chronicle went on to become a $123 million box office success.(Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Films)
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He's a Four-Time NAACP Image Award Nominee - Insiders have already put Jordan on the short-list for an Academy Award nomination for Fruitvale Station, but Jordan is no stranger to awards shows. He's been nominated for four NAACP Image Awards, three for his work on All My Children and one for Outstanding Literary Work for a teen book series he wrote called Homeroom Heroes. (Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)