Michael B. Jordan has won the first Oscar of his career, taking home the lead actor statue for playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack in the supernatural thriller “Sinners.” His victory makes him the sixth Black man to triumph in the lead actor category.
“I stand here because of the people that came before me,” Jordan said before naming those men, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Will Smith, as well as Halle Berry, the first and only Black women to win for lead actress. “To be amongst those giants, those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guides… 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.”
This was Jordan’s first Oscar nomination. He became the late-breaking frontrunner in the category — Jordan was up against Timothee Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”) Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”) and Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”) — after scoring a key victory at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Prior to that ceremony, he had lost the BAFTA to Robert Aramayo of “I Swear,” the Golden Globe to Moura and the Critics’ Choice to Chalamet.
“”Man, God is good. God is good,” Jordan said on stage before shouting out his family members in the audience. “Momma, what’s up? You know how I feel about my mother. And my father is here. Pops, where you at? My dad came from Ghana to be here.”
He also praised filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who has directed Jordan in five films including “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“You’re an amazing, amazing person,” Jordan said. “I’m so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend. You gave me the opportunity and space for me to be seen. I love you too, bro.”
Jordan pulls off double duty in the 1930s-set “Sinners,” playing identical twins Smoke and Stack who return home to the South after World War I and open a juke joint… only for vampires to descend on the small town. In addition to awards glory (the film was nominated for a record 16 Oscars and won four on the big night), “Sinners” became a box office juggernaut with $370 million globally.
“Everybody at home who supported ‘Sinners’ and went to see the movie once, twice, three, four times… thank you,” Jordan concluded. “You made this movie what it is.”
