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Had to undergo therapy after Black Panther: Michael B Jordan
Actor Michael B Jordan says he did not take his character’s pain, emotions and rage lightly
Actor Michael B Jordan has revealed that he found it difficult to reconnect with people after playing villainous Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018). In the superhero saga, directed by Jordan’s frequent collaborator director Ryan Coogler, Killmonger is shown as a relatable person, a man
who wants the throne of a technologically-advanced country to support the black community.
The actor was recently in conversation with Oprah Winfrey for her SuperSoul Conversations TV special, where he opened about his acting process for the film, which has been nominated in the best picture category of the upcoming Academy Awards 2019. Jordan says, to do justice to the character, who he believes was a lonely person, he purposely distanced himself from others. “I spent a lot of time alone. I figured Erik; his childhood growing up was pretty lonely. He didn’t have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda, that didn’t exist,” he says.He admits that the film was “an extreme, exaggerated version of the African diaspora from the African-American perspective”. “So, to be able to take that kind of pain and rage and all those emotions that Erik kind of represents from being black and brown, here in America… that was something I didn’t take lightly,” Jordan adds. After wrapping up the film, Jordan says, he had to undergo therapy. “Readjusting to people caring about me, getting that love [was difficult]. I shut out love, I didn’t want love. I wanted to be in this lonely place for as long as I could,” he says. He sought therapy to help him overcome this phase and he says the sessions “helped me out a lot”.
I spent a lot of time alone... He (Erik) didn’t have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda, that didn’t exist. MICHAEL B JORDAN, ACTOR