Michael B. Jordan is one of the few bona fide movie stars working today (perfectly evidenced by the blockbuster box office performance of Sinners), and he’s far from a recent revelation. He just turned 39 last week and is at the top of his game, but he has been professionally acting since he was 12 years old and appeared in a Season 1 episode of The Sopranos. That’s more than a quarter-century to look back upon… but Jordan nevertheless remembers the exact moment when he knew that he wanted to be an actor.
Jordan was recently the recipient of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Outstanding Performer of The Year Award, and it was during an extended, on-stage Q&A with SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling that the actor recalled one of the most important moments in his life. After saying that he wasn’t always interested in acting and that it was something he got to pursue because he kept getting “yeses,” Jordan was asked if he remembered when everything truly clicked, and he recalled the day:
