Michael B. Jordan: Denzel Washington 'like a father figure' to me

Denzel Washington is trusting Michael B. Jordan as his leading man in the forthcoming film Journal for Jordan, but before they worked together for the first time, a 17-year-old Jordan shook Washington's hand.

"I mean, he probably wouldn’t remember me as a kid, but I met him in passing when I was maybe 17," Jordan told Vanity Fair's Britt Hennemuth for the publication's 2021 Hollywood Issue cover. "He had no reason to know who I was or anything like that, but I shook his hand and I was just like, 'Oh. That was great, right?' We first sat down for real after Fruitvale Station."

Jordan also shed light on his mindset around Journal for Jordan: 

"He’s a mentor of mine, he’s the GOAT, he’s the guy. It was a no-brainer for me. ... I wanted to have more life experiences, so that I can actually breathe life into this character. First time I met Denzel, it was like meeting one of my uncles, you know what I mean? Or like a father figure. He’s got tons of stories. He’s lived the life that people only dream to have. Old-school. Super wise. He cracks his jokes, he’s funny—more than I think people would expect."

The Washington-directed Journal for Jordan centers around 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King (Jordan) serving in Baghdad and writing a journal for his son back home before his tragic killing. The film is based upon the 2005 200-page journal Dana Canedy wrote for her and King's infant son in the event her fiancé didn't make it out of the war alive. King was killed by a roadside bomb in October 2006.

Jordan previously discussed his newly founded actor-director relationship with Washington with The Hollywood Reporter last month, and they did a joint roundtable interview with The New York Times back in 2018.