Across the past decade, Michael B. Jordan has grown into one of Hollywood’s best new stars that has only grown with Sinners being one of the best 2025 movie releases. On Thursday, the actor, who’s already getting Oscar buzz for his dual roles as Smoke and Stack, received a prestigious career award and dropped some great wisdom about his mindset for how he’s carved out his own place in the industry.
When Jordan earned The American Cinematheque Award at The Beverly Hilton (which was fittingly presented by his creative partner Ryan Coogler) this week, he delivered a 13-minute speech that started with him saying the tribute “means a lot” to him. Here’s one highlight from the public appearance (via Gold Derby):
Everybody talks about chasing dreams. Nobody really talks about how to build them. What does it actually mean to build? How do you will the thought into existence? I stand on the shoulders of giants — and my ancestors. Build the house, and they will come.
As the successful actor and producer brought up, a lot of people like to discuss what they want to achieve, but the “how” is a rare conversation. As he continued:
I look around the room and I see the people who were there from the beginning with prayer, support, belief. Some of those people aren’t here tonight, but their fingerprints are all over the foundation. Their work, their faith — it all went into this. Watching y’all do that for me, I realized I didn’t have to pull up a chair to somebody else’s table. I could have my own table. I could have my own house. And more importantly, I could build a community.
While many try to fit in so they can find a spot at “the table”, Jordan talked about what he’s learned over the years that he could create his own table others would want to sit at by cultivating his own community within Hollywood. Jordan also quoted Toni Morrison’s: “If there’s a book you really want to read that hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it,” in the speech to elaborate on his larger point about finding his own space in Hollywood.
One large example of the actor creating his own “house” is when Jordan first teamed up with Ryan Coogler on Fruitvale Station back in 2012. Jordan and Coogler have since collaborated on four movies from a director/actor capacity, and a few others in a more behind-the-scenes capacity. Some other notable collaborators who supported Jordan at the award ceremony in Beverly Hills included Octavia Spencer, Tessa Thompson, Daniel Kaluuya, Delroy Lindo, Phylicia Rashad and composer Ludwig Göransson with a performance of “I Lied To You” from Sinners.
The award honor comes as Sinners enters this year’s award season. Gold Derby is currently predicting that Sinners will be nominated in a host of categories at the Oscar. Odds are high for it earning a spot for Best Picture along with Ryan Coogler getting a Best Director nod, Jordan being nominated for Best Actor, the script being on the list for Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Score , Best Sound and Best Original Song. Sinners could sweep awards season with all the nominations!
For now, Jordan’s inspiring words speak to his work ethic and innovative perspective on making it big in Hollywood.