Michael B. Jordan won his first career Oscar, taking home the Best Actor award for his role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack in the supernatural thriller “Sinners.” His win makes him the sixth black man to win in the Best Actor category.
“I’m standing here because of those who came before me,” Jordan said before naming Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith and Halle Berry, the first and only black woman to win Best Actress. “To be among those giants, those greats, those ancestors, those guides…I want to thank everyone in this room and everyone at home who has supported me throughout my career. I feel it. I know you all want me to succeed and I want to because you all bet on me. So thank you for continuing to bet on me.”
This was Jordan’s first Oscar nomination. After he scored a significant win at the acting awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Jordan was the late frontrunner in the category, pitting him against Timothée Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”), Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”) and Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”). Before that ceremony, he had lost the BAFTA to Robert Aramayo for I Swear, the Golden Globe to Moura, and the Critics Circle Award to Chalamet.
“‘Hey, God is good,’ Jordan said on stage, before shouting to his family in the audience, ‘Mommy, what’s wrong?’ Do you know how I feel about my mother? And my father is here. Pops, where are you? My father came from Ghana to be here. ”
He also praised director Ryan Coogler, who directed Jordan in five films, including Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
“You’re such an amazing, amazing person,” Jordan said. “I am so honored to call you my collaborator and friend. You have given me the opportunity and space to be noticed. I love you too, brother.”
Jordan pulls double duty in the 1930s-set Sinners, playing identical twins Smoke and Stack. After World War I, he returns to his hometown in the South and opens a juke joint, only to find that his small town is attacked by vampires. In addition to its awards glory (the film received a record 16 Oscar nominations and won four on the big night), “Sinners” became a blockbuster, grossing $370 million worldwide.
“Thank you to everyone at home who supported ‘Sinners’ and went to see it once, twice, three times, four times,” Jordan concluded. “You’re the one who made this movie what it is.”
