Michael B. Jordan understood the assignment not once, but twice in Sinners, and the Academy rewarded him for playing the twins Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s vampire flick.
Following wins for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography, Coogler’s longtime collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, took home the award for Best Actor for his excellent portrayal of identical twin brothers Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore in Sinners.
Like Coogler, this is the first Oscar win for the 39-year-old actor, and he bested a field that featured Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, and Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another.
Jordan joins the list of Black actors who have won Best Actor, including Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2007), Denzel Washington for Training Day (2002), and Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (1964). He acknowledged them by saying, “I stand here because of the people who came before me.”
“God is good,” Jordan began his speech. “Momma, what’s up? Y’all know how I feel about my mother—my father’s here is here, pops where you at? My dad came in from Ghana,” he added.
Jordan also thanked Warner Bros and Coogler for “betting on the culture and betting on original ideas and artistry and amazing person—I’m so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend.”
“Thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home is support you on my career,” he said. “I feel it. I know you guys only want to me do well and I want to do that because you guys have bet on me. Thank you for betting on me. I’m gonna keep stepping up and keep being the best version of myself.”
Sinners Didn’t Win The Night’S Biggest Award
Jordan’s momentous win would be the final one for the night for Sinners, which didn’t win the night’s biggest award, with One Battle After Another taking home the Oscar for Best Picture.
Damn.
Still, we are hyped for MBJ, and so was social media; you can see those reactions below.