Key Takeaways
- Michael B. Jordan said playing Erik Killmonger in Black Panther had a lingering emotional effect.
- He used therapy to decompress and distance himself from the character’s mindset.
- The actor described isolating himself during filming to better understand Erik’s pain and anger.
Michael B. Jordan is opening up about the emotional toll of fully immersing himself in Erik Killmonger — and how therapy helped him find his way back to himself after that role in Black Panther.
Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning, the actor reflected on the lingering impact of portraying the complex antagonist in the Ryan Coogler-directed film. “After the movie, it kind of stuck with me for a bit. Went to therapy, talked about it, found a way to kind of just decompress. And I think at that point, I was still learning that I needed to decompress from a character. You know, there’s no blueprint to this,” Jordan said.
He continued, “Acting is a solo journey a lot of times. Auditioning by yourself, practicing by yourself. There’s a lot of preparation, and the experience and the journey. So learning as I went, I [realized] that, ‘Oh man, I still got a little something on me I need to get off.’ You know, talking is really important.”
The Sinners star also explained how deeply he isolated himself while preparing for the role, including distancing himself from family in order to tap into his character’s emotional state. “Erik didn’t really know a lot of love. I think Erik didn’t experience that. He had a lot of betrayal, a lot of failed systems around him that shaped him and his anger and his frustration,” he said. “And looking at history and how it would seem to always repeat itself, and how was he going to break that cycle.”
Released in 2018, Black Panther centered Jordan’s character as more than just a villain, positioning him as a product of loss, displacement, and unresolved history. Opposite the late Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, the film pushed audiences to wrestle with power, legacy, and what justice looks like when systems fail. The movie went on to become a global phenomenon, earning three Oscars and later expanding into 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which honored Boseman following his death.
Michael B. Jordan wants kids — but at his own pace
Beyond unpacking past roles, Jordan is also thinking carefully about his future. As previously reported by REVOLT, the 38-year-old recently shared that he wants children — but only after testing his caregiving skills first.
During an episode of “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” Jordan joked that plants and pets are his current training ground for fatherhood, explaining that building responsibility now will help prepare him for that next chapter — whenever it arrives. “I want children. Yeah, I want kids one day, but I figure I gotta start off with, like, plants and dogs,” he said. “If I can take care of a plant, I should be able to get a dog. If the dog is cool, then I have a shot.”