Denzel Washington Warned Michael B. Jordan: Overexposure Hurts Movie Stars: ‘Why Pay to See You on a Weekend If They See You All Week for Free?’
Michael B. Jordan once again proved his star power with the release of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” earlier this year. The vampire thriller has earned $350 million and counting at the worldwide box office.
Jordan said in a New York Magazine cover story that he actively does not post much on social media or talk to the press about his personal life in order to “create a demand” for himself as a movie star. Given the money coming in for “Sinners,” it’s a strategy that appears to be working.
Jordan counts multiple Oscar winner Denzel Washington as one of his biggest inspirations, shared with the magazine that Washington actually gave him career advice encouraging him to stay offline as to not risk being overexposed.
My Oscar Book:
Washington put it bluntly: “Why would they pay to see you on a weekend if they see you all week for free?”
Jordan has been working towards movie stardom ever since making the career jump from TV to films.
The actor appeared in movies like “Hardball” as a kid, but his TV supporting roles on “The Wire” and “Friday Night Lights” are what really made him one to watch.
“I was really, really, really unsure of what my career was going to be [12 years ago],” Jordan said. “Am I a TV actor? Where am I going? And I was like, ‘Man, I just want an independent film.’ I can show what I can do, and I just need to know if I could carry a film or not, if I could be a lead.”
Fruitvale Station: Turning Point
The script for “Fruitvale Station” led to a meeting with the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, which became life-changing: “Ryan told me he thought I was a movie star. He thought I was a great actor, and he wanted to show the rest of the world that, and he wanted to make the movie with me.”
“Mike deserves to be a leading man,” Jordan’s manager Phillip Sun told New York magazine. “He happens to be a Black leading man. But we weren’t chasing roles just based on color. We chased everything.”
Washington’s advice has remained a lynchpin for Jordan, who does not have accounts on popular social media platforms like X or TikTok.
Jordan does use Instagram, where he boasts 25 million followers, but rarely posts outside of press tours for his film projects.
Washington directed Michael Jordan in the 2021 romance drama “A Journal for Jordan.”
