Michael B. Jordan received the Cinema Vanguard Award Thursday night from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 
Michael B. Jordan takes a selfie with a fan Thursday night on the Red Carpet at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara. He received the Cinema Vanguard Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 
Zebediah Smith and Mariah Wilson. 
Michael B. Jordan on stage at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara Thursday night. He received the Cinema Vanguard Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 
Monib Abhat and Dane Cook 
Director Joshua Sechrist and actress Sierra Hastings
MTV Movie Award and Screen Actors Guild Winner Michael B. Jordan accepted the Cinema Vanguard Award on Thursday night for his work in two of the year’s critically acclaimed box office hits: Black Panther and Creed II.
Jordan was honored by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival after a stroll down a crowded red carpet in front of a throng of enthusiastic fans at the Arlington Theatre.
“It’s thrilling to honor Michael B. Jordan this year for the emboldened way he’s shown us what it means to be a movie star for the 21st century, mixing sensitivity with swagger and choosing important material that is full of integrity,” SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling said. “He has forged an amazing collaboration with the visionary director Ryan Coogler.
“And his talents match his good looks!”
The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film.
Previous honorees include William DaFoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bernice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga and others.
The Q&A was conducted by Hollywood Reporter film critic Scott Feinberg, who noted that Jordan is 31 and has been acting for 20 years.
In the house was Jordan’s father, Michael A. Jordan, after whom he was named.
“My father doesn’t get to come to these events with me much,” Jordan said. “It’s great to have Pops in the house.”
Michael B. Jordan was born in Santa Ana and raised in Newark, New Jersey. His middle name, Bakari, means “noble promise” in Swahili. He lives in Los Angeles, where he supports the charity Lupus LA.
Jordan reminisced that his mother started taking him to modelling auditions when he was 11.
“One job led to another. I started paying my dues,” he recalled. “I never thought that I would be where I am today when I started out. There were some tough years when I first moved back to Los Angeles when I was 19 or 20. I could barely pay the rent.
“I just wanted to have enough work to be financially stable. I spent four to five years just trying to survive by acting.”
Ultimately Jordan landed roles in three critically acclaimed television dramas, including HBO's hit series “The Wire” (2002), NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” (2006) and “Parenthood” (2010).
He first garnered industry-wide film attention for his breakout role in “Fruitvale Station,” his first collaboration with director Ryan Coogler in 2013.
On how he got involved with “Fruitvale Station” (2013), he said, “Honestly, my agent gave me the script. We were talking about what I wanted to do, and I told him I want to do a big film, a gritty, independent film. He gave me “Fruitvale” to read.
“I read it and started crying, like it was pretty heavy. Coogler and I met at a Starbucks in the Valley. We talked and talked. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to do this movie.”
Jordan again teamed up with Coogler in the 2015 hit “Creed,” for which he prepared for 18 months in his role as a boxer. In 2016, he launched his own production company, Outlier Society Productions, with a multi-year first-look deal with Skydance Media.
In 2018, Jordan played the tormented and revenge driven Erik Kilmonger in “Black Panther,” which became the highest grossing film of all time at $1.3 billion. He got back into the producer’s seat for the sequel “Creed II,” in which he returned to his starring role as Adonis Creed.
The event was presented by Ugg and sponsored by Belvedere Vodka.
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and educational organization.
Over the past 32 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and panels, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire people through the power of film.
The 34th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival presented by Ugg takes place Jan. 30 through Feb. 9.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, visit www.sbiff.org.
