Michael B. Jordan Biography

Michael Bakari Jordan (born February 9, 1987) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage drug dealer Wallace on the HBO drama television series The Wire, Reggie Montgomery in All My Children, quarterback Vince Howard on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights, and since 2010, as Alex in Parenthood. He played Steve Montgomery in the 2012 film Chronicle and, in a lead role, shooting victim Oscar Grant in the 2013 film Fruitvale Station.

Early life

Jordan was born in Santa Ana, California to Donna (née Davis), who works at Arts High, and Michael A. Jordan, a caterer. Jordan is named after his father, and has no connection with basketball player Michael Jordan. His middle name is Swahili for "noble promise". Jordan is the middle of three children with an older sister, Jamila, who works in production and a younger brother, Khalid, who is a Howard University footballer. Jordan spent two years in California and then moved with his family to Newark, New Jersey. He attended Newark Arts High School, where he played basketball. He did not plan on being an actor. He first started off modeling for local companies. He modeled for Modell's sporting goods and Toys "R" Us. Despite the end of Friday Night Lights he still has his apartment in Austin where the TV series was filmed.

Career

In 1999, at twelve, he was a cast in a recurring role in the CBS comedy Cosby. In the same year, he appeared in the HBO series The Sopranos and the following year, he played alongside Keanu Reeves in Hardball. In 2002, he gained more attention by playing the small but pivotal role of Wallace in the first season of HBO's The Wire. In March 2003, he joined the cast of All My Children playing Reggie Porter (later Reggie Montgomery), a troubled teenager, until June 2006. Jordan was released from his contract from the soap after three years due to lack of airtime, and last aired on June 5, 2006.

Jordan's other credits include guest starring appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace and Cold Case. Thereafter, he had a lead role in the independent film Blackout and also starred on a sitcom called The Assistants on The-N. In 2008, Jordan appeared in the music video "Did You Wrong" by R&B artist Pleasure P. In 2009, he guest-starred on the popular TV Spy show Burn Notice in the episode "Hot Spot", playing a high school football player who got into a fight and is now being hunted by a local gangster. In 2010, he guest-starred in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Inhumane Society" as a boxer involved in a Michael Vick-inspired dog fighting scandal.

He had a major role in the two final seasons of NBC drama Friday Night Lights as quarterback Vince Howard. In 2010, he was considered one of the 55 faces of the future by Nylon Magazine's Young Hollywood Issue. That year, he landed a recurring role on the NBC show Parenthood playing Alex (Haddie Braverman's love interest). This marked his second collaboration with showrunner Jason Katims, who was in charge of Friday Night Lights. BuddyTV ranked him #80 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011". Jordan voiced Jace in the Xbox 360 game, Gears of War 3.

In 2012, Jordan appeared in the George Lucas-produced movie Red Tails and played one of the leads in Chronicle, a film about three teenaged boys who develop superpowers. He also guest-starred in an episode of House final season, playing a blind patient. In 2013, Jordan starred as shooting victim Oscar Grant in Fruitvale Station. His performance was well received, with The Hollywood Reporter film critic Todd McCarthy writing that he reminded him of "a young Denzel Washington". He lent his voice to Cyborg in the animated superhero adventure Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. He will next star in Are We Officially Dating?. In April 2013, Jordan joined the cast of Josh Boone's Pretenders. In July 2013, Jordan was announced to portray the grandson of Apollo Creed in the Rocky spinoff Creed with his Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler and Sylvester Stallone. Following his stint in Fruitvale Station, Jordan was named one actor to watch by People and Variety. Jordan was announced to portray Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four reboot.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Black and White	Teen #2
2001	Hardball	Jamal
2007	Blackout	C.J.
2009	Pastor Brown	Tariq Brown
2012	Red Tails	Maurice 'Bumps' Wilson
2012	Chronicle	Steve Montgomery
2013	Fruitvale Station	Oscar Grant
2013	Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox	Victor Stone/Cyborg	Voice
2014	That Awkward Moment		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	'	Rideland Kid	Episode "Down Neck"
1999	Cosby	Michael	Episode "The Vesey Method"
2002	'	Wallace	13 episodes
2003"06	All My Children	Reggie Porter Montgomery
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Morris	Episode "Poppin' Tags"
2006	Without a Trace	Jesse Lewis	Episode "The Calm Before"
2007	Cold Case	Michael Carter	Episode "Wunderkind"
2009	Burn Notice	Corey Jensen	Episode "Hot Spot"
2009	Bones	Perry Wilson	Episode "The Plain in the Prodigy"
2009	'	Nate Warren	13 episodes
2009"11	Friday Night Lights	Vince Howard	26 episodes
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Danny Ford	Episode "Inhumane Society"
2010	Lie to Me	Key	2 episodes
2010"11	Parenthood	Alex	16 episodes
2012	House	Will Westwood	Episode "Love is Blind"
2012	County	Travis Hancock	Unaired TV pilot

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Gears of War 3	Jace Stratton	Voice role

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result
2005	Soap Opera Digest Award	Favorite Teen	All My Children
2005	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
2006	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
2007	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
2008	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author	"Homeroom Heroes"
2011	EWwy Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama	Friday Night Lights
2013	Hollywood Film Awards	Hollywood Spotlight Award	Fruitvale Station