The film, based on a true story, saw Jordan play the starring role of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American man killed by police while at an Oakland, California, subway station. Jordan delivered again with a recurring role in the TV series Parenthood, and received mountains of critical praise for his 2013 performance in the Ryan Coogler-directed feature Fruitvale Station. Jordan’s performance wowed fans of the series and served notice to critics that he was an actor to keep an eye on. Jordan's next significant break came in 2009 when he was cast to play star quarterback Vince Howard in the Emmy-winning series Friday Night Lights. He landed a role in the indie film Blackout (2007) and made appearances in a host of television shows, including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI, and Cold Case, among others. He also earned a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Favorite Teen.Īfter leaving the soap in 2006, Jordan stayed busy. During his three-year stint on the show, Jordan netted three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series. In 2003, Jordan was tapped as a regular cast member on the soap opera All My Children. Jordan’s time on the landmark show lasted just one season, but his riveting portrayal of the caring, soft-spoken Wallace ended his struggles to find consistent television and film work. Jordan landed a principal role and his performance put him on the radar screen of the creators of the TV series The Wire. Starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane, the film tells the story of an inner-city baseball team. It was the 2001 movie Hardball, however, that raised the young actor’s profile. Other minor parts followed, and in 1999 he made an appearance in The Sopranos. His first break came when he landed a small role on the Bill Cosby sitcom, Cosby. The future actor stayed above the fray, and with the encouragement of his parents, he began modeling for newspaper ads at the age of 10.Īlong the way, he also auditioned for commercials and TV shows. Newark could be a tough place to grow up in a later interview, Jordan admitted to having friends who sold drugs and stole cars. ![]() The son of a caterer and a high school guidance counselor, Jordan moved when he was 2 with his parents to Newark, New Jersey, where he spent the remainder of his childhood. Michael Bakari Jordan was born on February 9, 1987, in Santa Ana, California. In 2020, Jordan was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. ![]() He returned to the big screen in early 2018 in the wildly successful Marvel superhero flick Black Panther. Jordan garnered acclaim for his role in the film festival favorite Fruitvale Station (2013) and for his role as a boxing protégé in 2015's Creed. He later landed major roles in landmark TV shows like The Wire and Friday Night Lights. Jordan began his career as a model and actor, and his first significant break was an appearance on The Sopranos in 1999. But the story shows how the unforgiving mistake of an officer led to the wrongful death of a human being, which should be what the audience takes away from the film.Michael B. Did they put a halo on Oscar Grant's head? Yes. So all in all, a spectacular movie, with a stirring message. Grant also listens to many popular not-so-mainstream Bay Area rappers in his car, which for me as a local was an awesome small detail they got right. ![]() The BART train can be seen running in the background at different points during the movie, almost as if it represents the impending unfortunate event, following Grant around town. The film is also shot extremely well, and captures the essence of the Bay Area wonderfully. The cops were definitely over the top in the final scene when it came to how cruel they acted towards Grant and his friends (using racial slurs, punching one of his friends), but the reality of the horrific final event looks believable. This is the most important aspect of the film. However, the director does a fantastic job of showing that like everyone else on this earth, Oscar Grant was first and foremost a human being with a human family and human friends. While other critics may say that the portrayal of the character was skewed and made him seem like an innocent martyr, the director actually does show a darker side of Grant, showing him deal drugs, threaten people, and lose his temper. The director admittedly made up the scene where he helps a dying dog in the streets. This was a man who was a convicted drug dealer that had served two prison terms. ![]() First, I would like to point out that the movie probably portrays Oscar Grant as more likable person in the movie than he most likely was in real life.
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