Michael B Jordan on the 'stereotypical' role he never wanted to play again
michael b jordan said his time on the soap All My Children was a deliberate step in a long climb from small roles to leading-man status — and that the work there became the education that prepared him for larger projects. The actor linked that early training to his first Academy Award nomination this year for his dual turn in Sinners.
Sinners, the Oscar surge and Jordan's dual role
The 2026 Oscar nominations were described as among the freshest in years, with Sinners emerging as the biggest success story. Sinners is a musical vampire horror movie with a strong focus on Black heritage and became the most-nominated movie in Academy history. Michael B Jordan was honoured for his dual role as Elijah ‘Smoke’ Moore and Elias ‘Stack’ Moore.
How All My Children fit into Michael B Jordan's path
Jordan spent three years on the soap opera All My Children after an early appearance as Wallace on The Wire in its debut season in 2002. He joined All My Children in 2003 to play Reggie Montgomery, the adopted son of Jackson Montgomery, who was played by Walt Willey. His Reggie storylines mostly revolved around various criminal activities while his adoptive father worked to straighten him out. Jordan also had a brief on-screen romance with Joni Stafford, a role played by a young Amanda Seyfried. One account describes his time on the series as lasting from 2003 to 2006; the show is noted as beginning in 1970, with one timeline given as airing from 1970 to 2011 and another specifying it started on January 5, 1970 and concluded on September 2, 2013 after 41 years. The end date is unclear in the provided context.
Why he called the soap 'a chess move' and what he learned
In a recollection of those early years, Jordan said, "I knew that it was a chess move. You work on a show like All My Children, we know what it is, but you’re still able to grow outside of it. It’s the perfect situation. I learned, I grew as an actor, I worked with professionals, I got paid. " On Sirius XM he expanded on the pace and scale of the work, saying, "That time I spent on that show did so much for me education-wise. We did 100-plus pages a day. We did an episode and a half a day, you know what I'm saying? It was a machine. And [for] a kid that never really went to acting classes and never went to acting school or anything like that, that was my education. I learned from them. " He listed on-set luminaries who helped shape that education: Kelly Ripa, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Susan Lucci, John Duhamel and Ray MacDonnell.
Chadwick Boseman, the Reggie role and the stereotype debate
Jordan was not the first actor to play Reggie Montgomery; he replaced the original performer Chadwick Boseman, who later became Jordan's Black Panther co-star and, in the context of the role, a nemesis. Boseman left after being fired following one week, having raised concerns that Reggie's character fed into negative images about young Black men. Jordan agreed with that critique, saying, "No dad, no mom, a fucking stereotypical Black role in a soap opera. I saw the stereotype, so moving forward I was like, 'Nah, those are the roles I don't want to play'. " Even after some changes were made, the character remained part of a larger, negative narrative surrounding African-Americans on television.
From soap education to being a role model and an Oscar nominee
Jordan — described as a 39-year-old American actor and director and identified in context as the Black Panther star — has spoken about grinding through low-level movies and TV shows to establish himself as a leading man. He called All My Children "my education" and framed the soap as a necessary stepping stone to reach the kinds of roles he wanted. The narrative notes the irony that both actors who played Reggie would go on to become extremely positive role models for young Black men. This year’s Academy recognition marks his first nomination, a milestone presented in the context of a career he and commentators describe as long in the making and unlikely to be his last.
