Sopranos to Sinners: 10 forgotten roles that built Michael B Jordan's Oscar journey

Oscar winner Michael B Jordan is the name on everyone's lips right now, playing not one but two lead characters in a film that earned a history-making 16 Oscar nominations.

The 39-year-old took home Best Actor at the 2026 Academy Awards for his role in Sinners. But it's not the only film that's catapulted Jordan's career.

From his first film, to his unlikely Hollywood role model and the industry friendship that made him the winner he is today, we've rounded up all the Michael B Jordan movies you need to see and his inspiring rise to fame here:

Sinners (2025)

It's the award-winning film that scored Jordan his first Oscar nod and win – over the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Ethan Hawke.

And for good reason.

The actor told Vanity Fair playing identical twins Stack and Smoke was his hardest role to date.

He worked with real-life twins as consultants during filming, adding the most insane detail to differentiate his two characters.

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Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson Show, co-star Wunmi Mosaku revealed Jordan deliberately gave one twin (Stack) dimples by holding his face a certain way.

"Stack has dimples and Smoke doesn't, and that isn't makeup!" she said.

"That is literally how Michael held his face. Like, his eyebrows are more up and out."

Mosaku also revealed when playing Smoke, Jordan wore larger-sized shoes so when he walked, he steps were more grounded. When he played Stack, Jordan "wore tighter shoes", giving the character a lighter step.

The film alone scored 16 Academy Award nominations, beating the record 14 earned by Titanic in 1998. Worth a watch, we say!

The Sopranos (1999)

Before he was an Oscar winner, Jordan's first ever role was at age 12. He made his debut in a single episode of The Sopranos in 1999 and was credited as just 'Michael Jordan' at the time.

Not to be confused with the legendary basketball player, of course!

Young Jordan had three lines, so it’s worth the watch to see if you can spot him.

Hardball (2001)

Two years later, Jordan scored his first film role as young Jamal in Hardball alongside Keanu Reeves, who Jordan credits as "a great role model" in his life.

He recalled when Keanu took the young cast out for dinner, where Jordan was introduced to Matrix star Laurence Fishburne.

"We got to ask him questions... and I remember that making a big impact on me when I was young," Jordan told GQ.

"[Keanu] always tells me that he's proud of me, and proud of the things that I've done up to this point, and always encouraging me to keep going and doing more.

"He's one of the special guys I'm glad I got a chance to know when I was super young."

Friday Night Lights to Parenthood (2009-2011)

In the mid-2000s, Jordan grew from child star to serious teen actor taking on recurring roles in TV dramas Friday Night Lights and Parenthood.

The shows ran concurrently with young Jordan once saying, "I'm spoiled! I don't know what I'm going to do next", paving the way for his first big lead...

When Jordan met Coogler... (2013)

OK, this isn't the name of a movie but it marks Jordan's breakthrough in 2013 when he met filmmaker Ryan Coogler.

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The pair worked together for the director's first feature film, Fruitvale Station.

Little did they know, the project would lead to a decade-long "collaboration and friendship" working on projects such as Creed, Black Panther and now Sinners.

Creed trilogy (2015-2023)

Stepping into the shadow of the Rocky legacy, and alongside Sylvester Stallone himself, Jordan transformed into Adonis Creed for Creed in 2015.

You'll notice Jordan's extreme physical discipline and emotional vulnerability for the role that proved to be huge for his career.

The trilogy transformed Jordan from a rising star to a franchise powerhouse, eventually allowing him to make his directorial debut with Creed III.

Black Panther (2018)

Playing supervillain Erik Killmonger became Jordan's greatest performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (we'll touch on Johnny Storm next).

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Did you know, Jordan was considered for the role of Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and for Sam Wilson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)?

Just Mercy (2019)

Six years before Sinners, Jordan gave one of his best performances in court room thriller Just Mercy alongside Jamie Foxx, which fans and critics have labelled Oscar-worthy itself.

The legal drama, based on true events, saw Jordan step into the shoes of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson in a fight for death row justice.

The role saw Jordan shed his 'action blockbuster' label as he entered his hard-hitting drama era.

Fantastic Four (2015)

While the 2015 reboot was notoriously panned by critics, Jordan's take on Johnny Storm (a.k.a The Human Torch) marked his foray into the world of superhero blockbusters.

After all, he bounced back almost immediately into Creed, released that same year, and what a success that came to be!

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