Michael B. Jordan recently starred in a double role as the twin brothers Smoke and Stack in “Sinners.” The film won four awards Sunday night at the 98th Academy Awards in a monumental night for its crew, cast and director, Ryan Coogler.
Jordan and Coogler have worked together multiple times and have been called in recent years one of Hollywood’s most prolific duos. In his speech, Jordan mentioned he was honored to call Coogler a “collaborator and a friend.” He also thanked Coogler for being able to give him “an opportunity and space for me to be seen. I love you too, bro.”
Jordan rose from a child actor into one of Hollywood’s leading men. He got a standing ovation as he took the stage to claim his award, and he began his speech by shouting out his mom, as well as his dad, who he said flew in from Ghana to see him win an Academy Award. Jordan also thanked Warner Bros. studio an CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy “for believing in this, this dream, this vision, of Ryan Coogler and betting on the culture and betting on original ideas or original artistry.
Jordan and Timothée Chalamet were neck to neck at winning this award, but Jordan beat out Timothée Chalamet for “Marty Supreme,” Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.” Chalamet, Hawke and Moura all would have been first-time winners in the category.
Jordan ended his speech with “To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guides, “he said. “Thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career; I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keeping betting on me.”
