Michael B. Jordan Was Ready To Quit Acting Until A ‘The Wire’ Co-Star Told Him To Keep Going

Before Black Panther, before Creed and Fruitvale Station, before Friday Night Lights even, Michael B. Jordan was this close to being done with acting. Following an acclaimed stint on The Wire and a bit role on Cosby (his main memory is Bill Cosby “asking him to practice brushing his hair for a scene”), Jordan moved to Los Angeles, where dreams are either made or crushed.

At first, it was the latter. “I remember when I first came to L.A., and me and my mom, we went to all these agencies trying to get representation and they passed on me — WME passed on me, CAA passed on me, Gersh, all these guys fucking passed on me,” Jordan told Vanity Fair in a new cover story. He was done with Los Angeles because Los Angeles was done with him, until he ran into Andre Royo, who played “Bubbles” on The Wire, at a party:

“He was stressed out,” recounts Royo. “He was like, ‘Yo, I’m not working enough, sh*t is crazy, I think I’m going to go back to New York.’ And he was really on some ‘boo-hoo’ sh*t. And I was like, ‘Yo dog, are you kidding me right now You in your early 20s and you’re around motherf*ckers trying to feed families who ain’t working. Snap out of it.’”

Jordan snapped out of it, and ironically, eventually joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He only made $2 million for Black Panther (a film that grossed over $2 billion worldwide), with some residuals on the back end. It’s a “rookie” mistake Jordan won’t make again. “Moving forward it’s a totally different story,” he said. “This is the defining moment in a lot of different areas for me that’s gonna set up my next 5 to 10. That’s why I’m so locked in right now, because if it was ever a time to get distracted or, like, drop the ball, this is not it.”

Where’s Wallace He’s everywhere, including Creed II, which opens Nov. 21.