Michael B. Jordan Needed Therapy After Playing ‘Black Panther’ Villain: ‘I Needed to Decompress’

While speaking with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Michael B. Jordan said he needed to “decompress” in therapy after playing villain Erik Killmonger in 2018’s “Black Panther.”

“After the movie, it kind of stuck with me for a bit,” Jordan said. “Went to therapy, talked about it, found a way to kind of just decompress. And I think at that point, I was still learning that I needed to decompress from a character.”

“Acting is a solo journey a lot of times,” he added, “Auditioning by yourself, practicing by yourself. There’s a lot of preparation and the experience and the journey. So learning as I went, I [realized] that, ‘Oh man, I still got a little something on me I need to get off.’” You know, talking is really important.”

Jordan recalled that it was difficult to shake off Erik Killmonger because he fully immersed himself in the character before shooting. He shared that he spent a lot of time “isolated” and “didn’t really speak” to his family while preparing for the role.

“Erik didn’t really know a lot of love. I think Erik didn’t experience that,” Jordan explained. “He had a lot of betrayal, a lot of failed systems around him that shaped him and his anger and his frustration.”

Jordan starred in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” alongside the late Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright and Winston Duke. The film was a box office smash for Marvel. Released in February 2018, “Black Panther” went on to gross $1.34 billion worldwide.