In case you’ve been living under a rock, Black Panther has been one of the biggest movies not only of 2018, but in cinema history. It’s surpassed projected goals and passed the billion dollar mark. At the center of the film was the antagonist to Wakanda’s T’Challa, outsider Killmonger played brilliantly by none other than Michael B. Jordan.
Jordan has found a great deal of success in recent years with the incredible Fruitvale Station, Creed (the continuation of the Rocky films that is already working on its sequel), and my personal favorite, 26 episodes of one of the best TV shows to ever exist, Friday Night Lights. He’s worked steadily on both the big and small screens, but in a recent sit down for Variety with Insecure star Issa Rae, Michael B. Jordan revealed that he’s no longer seeking out parts written for African American men. No, he wanted to try audition only for roles written specifically for white men.
“I said, I don’t want it. I want to only go for, like, [roles written for] white males. That’s it,” he said he told his agents, following the success of Fruitvale Station. “Me playing that role is going to make it what it is. I don’t want any pre-bias on the character.”
.@michaelb4jordan breaks down why he specifically targeted roles written for white men https://t.co/JaAFD3TuZs #ActorsOnActors presented by @Shutterstocknow pic.twitter.com/Hb83qsRsOj
— Variety (@Variety) June 6, 2018
This is likely how he landed the role of Guy Montag in HBO’s latest adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a character who has thus far been played by white men. But that sort of determination to go after roles that he would have generally been turned away from based on race is important, a point that Issa Rae makes because of the success of a film like Black Panther.
“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. “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.”
A film this impressive is proving that actors and actresses of all races are capable of leading films, TV shows and miniseries, alike. Actors like Michael B. Jordan are proving that they shouldn’t and won’t be relegated to roles specifically tailored to their race. He’s one of the men leading the charge against racial bias in Hollywood casting and I’m so here for it. I want all the Michael B. Jordan!