Michael B. Jordan Says Denzel Washington Warned Him To Avoid Overexposure: ‘Why Would They Want To See You On A Weekend If They Can See You All Week For Free?’

Michael B. Jordan’s rise to box office dominance with “Sinners,” a $350 million global hit, didn’t happen by accident.

via: Variety

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, who counts 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. Washington put things bluntly by asking Jordan: “Why would they pay to see you on a weekend if they see you all week for free?”

Movie stardom has been what Jordan has been working towards since making the career jump from television 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.”

The script for “Fruitvale Station” ended up making its way to Jordan and a meeting with the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, got added to his schedule. The meeting was 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.”

“Fruitvale Station” was met with critical raves and launched the film careers of Jordan and Coogler, who would go on to make the blockbusters “Creed” and “Black Panther” together before striking gold again with “Sinners.”

“Mike deserves to be a leading man, period,” 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 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 Jordan in the 2021 romance drama “A Journal for Jordan.”