The Truth About Michael B. Jordan's Private Life

Michael B. Jordan is well known for his range of acting. Whether it's playing a boxer in Creed or a villain in Black Panther, Jordan finds a way to thrill audiences. And in a 2020 list of the greatest actors and actresses of the 21st century, The New York Times ranked Jordan as 15th best. When he's not delivering amazing performances on the big screen, the actor leads two distinct lives.

First, his public activities, like political activism. Jordan actively participated in the Black Lives Matter movement and urged people to vote in the presidential election of 2020. "I've been picking my moments to make the most impact. We can all take action — big or small — to help create the change we want to see," he told People. This passion, plus his smoldering looks and acting prowess, led the publication to name Jordan the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2020. The other half of Jordan's life is shrouded in mystery. Is he dating? What are his hobbies? He told Vanity Fair that "people you see with these legacies" privately sacrifice a lot. "They give up so much of their personal life, their love life, whatever, this, that, and personal things," he said.

What's your favorite movie with this Hollywood hunk? And what would you like to know about the star? It's time for a peek behind the curtains. This is the truth about Michael B. Jordan's private life.

Michael B. Jordan often makes people swoon when he takes his shirt off. The actor is ridiculously fit and appears to become more and more chiseled with each new film as a result of hard fitness work. For his role as a quarterback in the TV series Friday Night Lights, Jordan's workout routine sounded as intense as a professional football player. In an interview for AV Club, Jordan remembered, "we would get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, go to the football field, and do football drills, quarterback drills for two, three hours before we started filming." Then later, for his starring role in the boxing film Creed, Jordan increased his workout program. According to Vanity Fair, the role "required Jordan to live like a monk, training six days a week." 

Even after all the dedicated training and work in the gym, Jordan wasn't satisfied with the results and wanted to push even harder. For Creed II, the actor admitted to GQ, "I wanted to be bigger than I was in the first Creed. More shredded than I was in Black Panther. I just wanted to see evolution." This includes multitasking to reach this elite-level — like when he gave an interview with Huffington Post while working out. "I'm actually doing sit-ups right now," Jordan admitted while talking to the interviewer, who didn't realize the actor was exercising. "I've been breathing in between sentences," the actor confessed.

No one would argue about Michael B. Jordan's dynamite good looks. And while he can thank his parents for naturally attractive features, the actor picked up beauty habits to help highlight his face. GQ claimed, "We should all have Michael B. Jordan's barber," after seeing the actor with a perfect combination of a buzz cut and groomed facial hair. Jordan's famous look is so important to the actor that he does, in fact, travel with his barber. "He's like a big brother to me. I've known him for a really long time and he's cut my hair for a bunch of films," Jordan told Marie Claire. "I'm definitely particular about who cuts my hair," he added. And for his role in Black Panther, Jordan fully grew his beard out for the first time. "I'm not genetically built to have a full beard, so it was a major thing," Jordan explained.

During the time in lockdown in 2020, Jordan, like so many others, decided to experiment with beard length. "I never had time to actually sit in one place and grow my facial hair where I didn't have to get it groomed, or manicured, or anything like that," he explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! "So, during quarantine, I just wanted to see how much hair I could actually grow," Jordan said. Did this result in a gigantic, Aquaman-style beard? Not that far, but Jordan grew a mustache that he affectionately named Murphy, or "Murph for short."

In one of Michael B. Jordan's earlier acting roles, he portrayed a football player in the TV series Friday Night Lights. The show was filmed entirely in Austin, Texas, so the young actor purchased an apartment in the city. But once his role ended on the series, Jordan was not ready to give up his time in Texas. "Austin was my home," he told the AV Club. He added that with the city's "whole atmosphere, it was very, very sad to let go." Jordan, therefore, decided to keep his place for future visits. "I still have my apartment there, for the record, because I love that city. I love it," he explained.

In 2018, the actor took a break from Hollywood for a vacation. According to GQ, Jordan hopped around Europe, including Italy. While on the Amalfi Coast, Jordan spent time "on a boat with childhood friend Sterling Brim," co-host of MTV's Ridiculousness. When talking about his fun in the Italian sun, Jordan said, "Sometimes you get on a boat, you go and meet people you've never met before, enjoy some stuff. It's vacation, it's life."

Maybe in the future, Jordan can fly himself to his next vacation spot. The actor went to flight school prior to his role in the film Red Tails. "One of the greatest adrenaline rushes I ever had," he told the AV Club about flying. Even more impressive, he helped fly the aircraft. "I co-piloted an actual P-51."

As an actor, Michael B. Jordan gets to travel around the world and play a variety of characters. Even with his natural talent, Jordan takes the craft seriously and puts in a lot of hard work to prepare for a role. Like for his role in Ryan Coogler's true story, Fruitvale Station. Jordan played the main character, Oscar Grant, a young Black man who was killed in a police shooting incident. Jordan spent time with Grant's family and friends in Oakland prior to filming. According to Vanity Fair, Jordan kept "detailed notebooks to help him fully realize his character." The actor reportedly became so immersed in the project that "some people didn't know where 'Oscar Grant' ended and Jordan began." 

The actor further explained his research process for the role in an interview for Huffington Post. Jordan said he spent a majority of the time with Grant's friends to best learn about "the real Oscar." According to Jordan, the friends "loosened up after a while. With a couple drinks and just talking, boys will be boys. The stories just started coming." But Jordan also realized the high stakes of getting the performance correct because one day, Grant's mother and daughter would see the film. Jordan's performance resonated with audiences and critics, and the film won the Grand Jury Prize at its premiere during the Sundance Film Festival, per the Los Angeles Times.

Michael B. Jordan grew up in Newark, New Jersey, not far from New York City, and supported the New York Giants. "Where I grew up, you picked either the Jets or the Giants. My family will always be a Giants family all the way," he told Oprah. Jordan also supported another team from The Big Apple, the New York Knicks. But Jordan wasn't only a sports fanatic. He was also a "sweetly introverted geek who obsessed over anime comic books, sci-fi films," according to Vanity Fair. Even after he became a celebrity, Jordan admitted he still loves to watch Japanese anime on his days off. "As a kid, I read comics and watched Dragon Ball Z, so I got really into that style of animation. Now when I have time, I binge-watch cartoons from overseas. When I'm finished, I feel like I fell down a rabbit hole," Jordan revealed to Oprah.

When he was about 11 years old, his parents convinced the young boy to try acting. In an interview with Huffington Post, Jordan admitted that acting wasn't a passion but revealed, "I was just doing it to get out of school early and get free food." He elaborated, "I didn't know what I wanted to do at that age — I was doing everything, playing basketball, acting, tap dancing." Jordan expressed gratitude that his parents provided opportunities for him to "find out the things that I liked or didn't like."

In an interview for People, Michael B. Jordan talked about a few of his favorite things. As a highlight, the actor reportedly "relishes driving cars." He told Oprah that his favorite activity in the summer is "hopping in my car and going for a long drive on the highway. Especially if it's the kind of hot summer night when the only way to cool off is to roll down the windows, feel the wind and coast." And the experience is even better in his BMW. Or maybe his Acura supercar. Jordan owns an Acura NSX, a six-figure vehicle. "The car is a dream come true for a kid from Newark who used to race illegally with friends in high school and obsess over this very model," Jordan told Vanity Fair.

As a young man, Jordan already picked up a few acting gigs. Then, when he obtained his driver's license, Jordan purchased himself a BMW 330Ci. With this high powered car, Jordan spent time with other young men "in abandoned parking lots to race cars with illegal crews." Jordan and other "Black and Latino teenagers" would practice drifting, just like out of a Fast and Furious film.

Not content on only acting, Michael B. Jordan is using his knowledge and influence to create change in the movie industry — and to grow his own personal brand in parallel. Jordan owns his production company, Outlier Society Productions. The company helped kickstart progressive change in Hollywood and "was the first to adopt an inclusion rider, which mandates that filmmakers enlist a diverse cast and crew," according to People. In addition, Jordan launched a youth fellowship program with his production company. In 2019, Jordan selected ten young adults and taught them all about "media, arts, marketing, film/TV production" (via MBK Alliance).

Keeping with his down-to-earth approach, Jordan even conducted business at home. "When he holds business meetings at the house, his father will come in with a plate of sandwiches," Vanity Fair reported. Jordan started the company thanks to his agent Phillip Sun, who became the "chief ally and architect in building" Outlier Society Productions. 

As the company continues to grow in influence, Jordan keeps an eye on other famous men who dominate in business. Reportedly, "Jordan talks a lot with the Jay-Z and LeBron teams and closely studies their operations." Tessa Thompson, the actress who starred alongside Jordan in the Creed films, explained how Jordan does so well in his professional activities. "He knows exactly what he is, which is a commodity," she explained. "Then be owner of it, really and truly."

In addition to his public activism, Michael B. Jordan gives back to the community through philanthropic work. Every year, Jordan hosts a fundraiser called MBJAM to raise awareness for lupus. The actor created the event in part because his mother, Donna, lives with the autoimmune disease. "MBJAM is a reflection of Michael's gratitude for the work of Lupus LA and their mission to find the causes of and a cure for lupus while providing support, services and hope to all people affected by lupus," according to the Lupus LA organization. For the events, Jordan calls on his famous friends to show their support for the cause. Previous special guests "have included former Los Angeles Clipper Blake Griffin, Terrence J, Storm Reid, Lena Waithe and Jamie Foxx," per The Hollywood Reporter.

While on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actor talked about starting an OnlyFans site, but for charity, and not personal gain. Jordan said he would like the proceeds from the platform "to go towards a barber school because during the quarantine there's been so many businesses and schools that shut down." Jordan further explained that his "barber Joe and the whole team, everybody, we've been plotting on that, so we're gonna work the system."

As a bigtime actor, Michael B. Jordan bought a home in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood in Los Angeles to be close to the Hollywood action. But this movie star did not forget his family on the road to fame. Jordan invited his parents and younger brother Khalid to live in the "mansion he purchased in 2016. In part, it's to care for his mother, but also because his parents remain deeply engaged in his career and life," per Vanity Fair. And when it came time to bring a date to the biggest night of the year in film, Jordan didn't have to look far. At the 2019 Academy Award ceremony, Jordan and his mother, Donna Jordan, walked the red carpet side-by-side.

After living together for several years, Jordan moved out of the mansion but stayed close to his parents. "It happened!" the actor revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "It's good. It's nice ... I'm pretty sure they saged the entire house when I left. Like, they lit incense and bleached it down and got rid of all of me, and then I got a place." 

All jokes aside, he said his new residence was still "close enough" to visit his family. "You know, driving, Sunday dinner. Mom and dad, they cook. I'm close enough that, yeah, we can get there. But I'm still, like, 20 minutes away, which is good," he added.

With incredible talent and incredibly good looks, Michael B. Jordan seems like the perfect catch. But Jordan generally keeps his relationship status a mystery. And since Jordan is so secretive with his dating life, paparazzi like to run with any bit of info and create imaginative stories. 

For example, Jordan was spotted in Italy's picturesque Amalfi Coast on a "motorboat with pal Sterling Brim and several white women in bikinis," Vanity Fair recounted. "The photos re-ignited a long-simmering rumor that Jordan prefers white women," so Jordan went on Instagram to set the record straight. In an Instagram Live stream, reposted by TV Smack Talk, Jordan explained, "there's not a lot of Black women in Italy." And he used a simple metaphor to elaborate on his preferences. "I like milk. I like chocolate milk. I love chocolate milk. I like almond milk. Strawberry milk. You know the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the milk after that, I like that too," he told his viewers. "I like milk, period," Jordan added. 

"Navigating and learning how to deal with this s***, there's nobody that really helped me," Jordan told Vanity Fair. Except for actor Will Smith, whom Jordan reportedly approached for advice on navigating fame and relationships. "I'm very mature and advanced in a lot of areas of life," Jordan told GQ. But the actor admitted, "dating may not be one of 'em. My personal life is not. I don't really know what dating is," he continued.

Free time comes at a premium for Michael B. Jordan. The movie star has his hands full with professional activities, like attending the Oscars in style, via GQ. Or promoting his work as a "real-life superhero" in the film Just Mercy, per Entertainment Weekly. Or even posing for photos as the 2020 "Sexiest Man Alive." But as spectacular as all these events sound, sometimes, Jordan wants to spend time on more leisurely activities. For example, outside of his commitments in Hollywood, Jordan loves "cooking and playing video games" (via People).

Jordan definitely seems to love the culinary arts. In fact, he once challenged actor Will Smith to see who was the better chef. In a video Jordan posted on Instagram, he expressed gratitude that Smith let him borrow his cabin and the well-stocked kitchen. And since Smith likes challenges, according to Jordan, the young actor wanted to start a friendly competition. "So I challenge you WILLARD C. SMITH to a cook off," Jordan explained in the post caption. The Black Panther star made a huge feast, including New York Strip steaks, mashed potatoes, salmon, and loaded ground chicken nachos, featuring homemade tortilla chips. And for breakfast, Jordan made eggs, bacon, and homemade cinnamon toast crunch. That's because he loves a big first meal of the day. Jordan's dream breakfast comes fully loaded because "I like to taste things so I'll get a little bit of everything," he told E!.