Personal details
- Birth Date: 1987-02-09
- Height: 6′ (1.83 m)
- Birth Location: Santa Ana, California, USA
- Parents: Donna Jordan (Davis)
- Professions: Actor, Producer, Director
Michael B. Jordan grew up in Newark, New Jersey, sandwiched between siblings and raised by Donna, a high school counselor, and Michael A. Jordan—not the basketball guy, just to clear that up. His middle name, Bakari, means “noble promise” in Swahili, which honestly sounds like something out of a superhero origin story. Anyway, Jordan got his start on some seriously heavyweight TV dramas. Remember Wallace on The Wire? That was him, bringing all the feels. Then he showed up as Vince Howard, the quarterback with a chip on his shoulder in Friday Night Lights, and later as Alex, a dude trying to get his life together in Parenthood. He didn’t just stick to TV, though. Fruitvale Station dropped in 2013, with Jordan front and center as Oscar Grant, whose life was cut short by police on a Bay Area train platform. The film cleaned up at Sundance and Cannes, snagging awards left and right, and Jordan scooped up a bunch of breakthrough actor trophies. Fast-forward and he’s lighting up the screen (literally) as Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, hanging out with Miles Teller and Kate Mara, and popping up in Chronicle—yeah, the one with teens getting superpowers. He’s also in That Awkward Moment with Zac Efron, and Red Tails, flying with the Tuskegee Airmen. Jordan teamed up with Ryan Coogler again for Creed, stepping into the ring with Stallone and Tessa Thompson. Then, boom—he’s Eric Killmonger in Black Panther, flipping the script as a villain everyone sort of secretly roots for. He even took on Guy Montag in HBO’s Fahrenheit 451. These days, he’s in LA, supporting Lupus LA and still making waves.
reference nSo, this kid didn’t go to a regular school—homeschooled, you know? But they still managed to snag a spot on the basketball team at Newark Arts High School in New Jersey. Honestly, kind of wild. You’d think being homeschooled would mean missing out on all the typical high school stuff, but nope, not in this case. Imagine juggling all your lessons at home, probably in your pajamas, and then lacing up your sneakers to play ball with the local school team. That’s hustle. Plus, it’s Newark, so you know the competition wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. The fact that they got on the team and played says a lot about their skills—and maybe a little about bending the rules, but hey, good for them. Not your average sports story, that’s for sure.
referencennNewark’s no picnic, man. You grow up fast or you get swallowed up, plain and simple. Friends? Some ran the streets, hustling, making money any way they could—some stealing cars, some pushing drugs. Me? I just wanted to survive and maybe look good doing it. Drove a BMW at sixteen, which—let’s be real—probably wasn’t the best idea. Cops didn’t like it. They’d pull me over, ask a million questions, like a kid like me couldn’t possibly own a ride like that unless I was up to no good. That’s just how it was. Doesn’t matter how smart you played it, being young and Black in that city, you had to stay sharp. Every day felt like a test just to keep your head above water.
February 9, 1987
6′ (1.83 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Santa Ana, California, USA
Yes, No Children
Donna Jordan (Davis) and Surekha
38 years old