When Sylvester Stallone decided to make a sequel to his cultural phenomenon, Rocky, he decided to step into the director’s chair. After two movies in the Rocky spin-off, Creed and Creed II, Michael B. Jordan, who had already started his own production company, Outlier Society Productions, has decided to make his directorial debut with the third movie in the series. Jordan will be directing in addition to starring in the film. So, for advice, he went to stars who have directed themselves in movies to a successful degree.
Empire reports that Jordan had sought advice from his A Journal for Jordan director, Denzel Washington, and actor Bradley Cooper, who had nabbed Academy Award nominations for acting and Best Picture for A Star is Born.
I was pretty anxious going into it, wondering what that would be like. Who’s calling action and cut? Is that me?! Talking with Denzel [Washington] and Bradley Cooper and others who have directed themselves, they told me you have to find your groove and your pace with your first AD and actors. But it’s also like having a superpower: within your performance, you can also direct. It saves some time in some areas because you get a chance to self-correct in the moment. So that’s a liberating experience to have. It became fun after a while.”
Luckily for Jordan, there are already blueprints set by Stallone, Ryan Coogler, director of the first, and Steven Caple Jr., who directed the second film. Taking on a franchise, no matter what precedence has already been set, still brings pressure to live up to previous entries and attempt to improve upon them. A great advantage Jordan has in the holster is the casting of Jonathan Majors as the baddie, Damien. “I think he has an intensity and a realness of character we haven’t seen before. He’s a grounded character who’s antagonistic by nature, but it comes from an honest place, real emotions. He’s not a moustache-twirling villain; I wanted people to understand him, and to make it hard for people. I think those make for the most complicated and interesting ones to watch.”