Michael B. Jordan’s ‘Sinners’ Oscar chances, by the numbers
Michael B. Jordan, 38, has given awards-worthy performances since he was a teenager. He now appears poised for his first Oscar nomination for playing twin bootleggers in frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.”
15
Age when Jordan delivered an indelible performance as the softhearted, conflicted teen drug dealer Wallace on HBO’s “The Wire.”
2
Despite being considered one of the finest television shows of all time, “The Wire” received only two Emmy nominations — both for writing — and won neither.
20+
“Breakthrough” awards and other mentions poured in for Jordan’s nuanced portrayal of Oscar Grant, a real-life Bay Area man killed by transit police, in Coogler’s 2013 debut feature “Fruitvale Station.”
1
Although none of the top awards bodies recognized his “Fruitvale Station” performance, Jordan received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best male lead.
2016
The prestigious National Society of Film Critics named Jordan best actor for his portrayal of boxer Adonis Creed in “Creed,” Coogler’s expansion of the “Rocky” franchise.
0
Despite the NSFC signaling his arrival as a bona fide movie star, Jordan was left off the Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA nominations lists.
2018
Jordan’s performance as complex antagonist Erik Killmonger in Coogler’s “Black Panther” drew widespread awards attention from critics groups, and the film’s cast won the SAG ensemble prize — Jordan’s highest acting honor to date.
4 (ish)
Although the data is shaky, it appears Jordan would be the fourth lead actor nominated for playing multiple characters in a movie if he gets the nod for “Sinners,” after Peter Sellers (“Dr. Strangelove”), Lee Marvin (“Cat Ballou”) and Nicolas Cage (“Adaptation”).
1
Only Marvin won, in 1966, for playing two gunmen — one far more broadly than the other.