Michael B. Jordan reflects on projects that lifted his acting career

Michael B. Jordan’s three-year soap opera roles propelled his career rise, and he is grateful for each of them.

The A-list filmmaker was honoured with the Power of Cinema Award at the 39th American Cinematheque Awards on Thursday, November 20.

The following evening, Jordan reflected on the projects that lifted his career and made him stand where he is in Hollywood while speaking with PEOPLE.

The Black Panther alum admitted that he “didn’t expect” just how much his time on All My Children would impact the trajectory of his career.

Jordan appeared in the now-cancelled ABC soap from March 2003 to June 2006, taking over the role of troubled teen Reggie Montgomery from Chadwick Boseman.

The Creed actor told the outlet that one of the most unexpected parts of his Hollywood journey was the time he spent on soap operas.

“I never knew how many casting directors and executives in Hollywood would tell me, ‘Oh man, my wife really loves you,’” Jordan recalled. “Or like, ‘Oh, she watches you all the time on the stories. … Come in for this and read for that.’”

Jordan added that those soap operas “opened so many doors” for him in places he never expected.

“I think looking back at it, that was something that definitely caught me off guard,” the actor admitted. “I didn’t expect that one. So that and The Wire were the two projects that really opened up a lot of doors for me in that sense.”

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