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58 SAG-AFTR A | Spring 2026 | sagaftra.org Michael B. Jordan's Success at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards Follows Over 25 Years of Dedication to the Craft T hough Michael B. Jordan appears twice on the poster for Ryan Coogler's genre-defying Sinners, it could be argued that the Newark native plays three characters in the film: the twins Smoke and Stack as well as a third role, Stack-as-a-vampire. It's a remarkable set of performances built from Jordan's astute attention to character-building through physicality, dialect study and internal work. The result is as layered, complex and truth-revealing as the acclaimed Jim Crow-era horror-thriller that put Jordan and the entire Sinners cast on the road to garnering their Actor statuettes at The 32nd Annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA (see page 62). Sinners was also presented two SAG-AFTRA American Scene Awards in October. Initially anxious over the technical uncertainties that come with playing twins, Jordan shared in a Dec. 26 SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations that director Coogler, with whom he'd collaborated on four previous highly acclaimed films, "felt strongly about this being a role that would help [Jordan] evolve and grow." The pursuit of growth, both personally and creatively, is a driving force in Jordan's life. Now a director and producer in addition to being an award-winning actor, Jordan began his career at age 11, after a receptionist at his mother's doctor's office said he should get into modeling. "I was an awkward-looking kid, so modeling wasn't the first thing on my career path choices," Jordan said years before, in a 2018 career retrospective SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations. "But I ended up crashing an audition." It was for print work but became Jordan's first introduction to creative work as a business. From there, Jordan began submitting himself for background opportunities, eventually landing an appearance on The Sopranos. The Come-Up Until his role on The Wire, Jordan never thought acting could be a real career. But when his character, Wallace, was killed off on the show, he felt devastated. "I started bawling and crying. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm never going to work again.'" Castmates assured Jordan his career would continue, and they were right. He started working on a daytime drama after that. In fact, Jordan replaced future Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman on All My Children when the producers decided A LIFE'S WORK This feature contains plot spoilers for many of Michael B. Jordan's projects, including Sinners.