Before Muhammad Ali became a three-time heavyweight champion, a global icon and one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, he was a young man from Louisville, Kentucky, who dared to know he was “The Greatest” long before the world believed in him.
That unwavering self-belief is at the heart of Prime Video's upcoming “The Greatest,” starring Jaalen Best as Cassius Clay Jr., the man who would become Muhammad Ali. The eight-episode series premieres Wednesday (Nov. 4) and explores the boxer's rise to fame and the convictions that transformed him into a cultural force whose impact extended well beyond the ring. Michael B. Jordan serves as an executive producer through his Outlier Society production company.
At the world premiere in New York City, REVOLT spoke exclusively with Best and Jordan about the meaning of greatness, the importance of believing in yourself, and how storytelling can challenge perspectives and create lasting change.
For Best, stepping into Ali's shoes offered a powerful lesson about the difference between declaring your greatness and actually achieving it. When asked what portraying the legendary boxer taught him about self-belief in a generation where people are encouraged to publicly announce their accomplishments, the actor emphasized that greatness begins internally.
“That's a great question. First off, you can't be great without believing in yourself and without saying the words and knowing that you're capable of more,” Best told REVOLT. “I think what I've learned is to really be great, you first have to say it and believe it. As long as you think it's true, that's all that matters.”
For Jordan, whose portrayal of Adonis Creed introduced a new generation to the fictional boxing dynasty through the Creed series, the connection between his work and Ali's legacy became unexpectedly personal. When REVOLT asked how working on both boxing-centered stories shaped his understanding of the difference between winning a fight and changing the world, Jordan had a realization about the relationship between the two projects.
“I always kind of grew up watching boxing and, lucky enough, in Creed to be able to play one, which, ironically enough, Adonis Creed is modeled after Muhammad Ali,” Jordan explained. “That's a crazy synergy I never really thought about until just now, which is really cool.”
The California native also believes the mentality required to succeed inside the ring can also serve as a blueprint for making a meaningful difference outside of it. “I think changing the world is gonna be a fight — it is a fight... So you gotta take that mentality and apply that to however you want to make an impact on the world and make a difference,” he continued. “Whatever your medium is, whatever field that you're into, there's some type of impact... something that you can add that is gonna help shift the world.”
For the Sinners star, entertainment provides an opportunity to introduce audiences to unfamiliar experiences, foster empathy, and challenge the way people understand one another. “When it comes to love languages like art, music, film, television — those are mediums [where] we tell stories, and we hope that we get some empathy, we hope that there's gonna [be] some type of understanding from places and subcultures that people wouldn't normally know or get close to,” he shared.
He concluded by explaining what he hopes viewers take away from the series: “That's what we hope to do with this show. Give some people some close proximity to a story that they think they know from a distance.”