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Michael B. Jordan has revealed that his villain role in Black Panther led him to seek therapy.
During a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Jordan, 38, reflected on portraying Black Panther's Erik Killmonger, a black ops mercenary and cousin to Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa. Jordan said the complex villain role “stuck with” him after filming wrapped.
“Yes, it kind of stuck with me for a bit,” Jordan told correspondent Tracy Smith. “And, you know, went to therapy and talked about it. Found a way to kind of just decompress. I think at that point [I was] still learning that I needed to decompress from a character.”
Jordan said the decision to go to therapy initially stemmed from filming Black Panther, but it later became something more meaningful.
“It spiraled into a bigger conversation and self-discovery,” the actor said, adding that therapy is “necessary for people — especially men.”
“I think it’s good for them to go and talk,” Jordan continued. “That’s something I’m not ashamed of at all, and very proud of. And [it] definitely helped me trying to be a good communicator and a well-rounded person, inside and out.”
This isn't the only time therapy has intersected with Jordan's work. In 2023, Jordan's Creed III co-star Tessa Thompson revealed that the pair participated in couples therapy, in character, to prepare for their roles as Adonis and Bianca Creed.
“The line sometimes between character and us get blurred,” Thompson told Refinery29. “Going to therapy, even when a relationship is good, can be a good thing if you’re trying to sharpen communication.”
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