Michael B. Jordan said in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that he needed to “decompress” with therapy after playing villain Erik Killmonger in 2018’s “Black Panther.”
“It stuck with me for a while after I finished watching the movie,” Jordan said. “I went to therapy and talked about it and found a way to kind of decompress. And I think at that point I was still learning that I needed to decompress from the character.”
“Acting is often a solo journey. You audition by yourself, you practice by yourself. It takes a lot of preparation, experience, and travel. So as I was learning, I[realized]’Oh, I still have to give up a little bit of something.’ You know, speaking is really important.”
Jordan recalled that it was difficult to shake off Erik Killmonger because he was completely immersed in the role before filming. He said he spent a lot of time in “isolation” with his family while preparing for the role and “didn’t really talk to them”.
“Eric didn’t really know what love was. I don’t think Eric experienced it,” Jordan explained. “He had a lot of betrayal and a lot of failed systems around him that shaped him and his anger and frustration.”
Jordan co-starred in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther alongside the late Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, and Winston Duke. The film was a huge box office hit for Marvel. “Black Panther” was released in February 2018 and grossed $1.34 billion worldwide.
