Michael B. Jordan,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
What's going on, man? Thanks for having me.
-This is different, but... -Oh, man, thank you
for being here, man. Thank you so much for being here.
Congratulations. Um, I just watched the film.
I think everybody else has on Amazon Prime.
Without Remorse.
Before we talk about the movie, I just want to know:
how much more muscle are you planning to create,
like, from your human body?
Like, like, at what point... Because, I mean, like,
the whole movie, I'm watching you,
and it's very discouraging, Michael,
'cause I stay at home, and I eat,
and I eat ice cream.
And then when I see you, I'm like,
"Do you... Do you eat anything?"
Like, how do you... Like, who are you, man?
I mean,
I just was about to eat some strawberry doughnuts.
I do. I do eat. I do eat a lot.
I've actually let myself go in recent months.
It's been, uh... It's been... It's been...
It's been pretty bad. Quarantine, uh,
-has taken its toll on this body. -(laughs)
Uh, but...
No, no, I mean, you know, whenever I got to lock in
and actually, like, trans...
uh, uh, you know, transform my body for a role,
-i-it's, uh, i-it's... -Right.
You know, I can get the job done.
Creed III is coming up,
so I'm-a have to change it pretty soon.
I-I thought I could catch up to you
when you were playing a lawyer.
I was like, "Yeah, I can do this.
I could have a Michael B. Jordan lawyer body."
And then Michael B. Jordan's like,
"I'm a boxer and a Navy SEAL." I was like,
"Yeah, no, I'm just gonna watch the movies."
-Uh, but congratulations, man. -Listen, we got to...
No, no. We got to work out one time. That's it.
Why-why would I do that to myself as a human being?
Why would I, as Trevor Noah, go work out with Michael B. Jordan?
To-to feel what about myself, Michael?
-What are you trying to do? -Feel great.
Feel great. You're gonna feel... No, the first couple of days,
you're gonna feel death, but then after that,
-you're gonna feel great. -(laughing)
You're gonna... You're gonna feel good.
You're gonna look even better,
which is (bleep) hard to do.
But we're gonna feel great. (chuckles)
Uh, let's-let's talk about the movie.
-What's up? -Tom Clancy, man.
Anybody who's loved the books,
anybody who's loved the games...
I mean, I grew up playing Rainbow Six, you know?
-Exactly. -I'm sure so did you.
This movie, Without Remorse,
I watched it with my brother, and he was just like...
He was like, "Man, this is amazing."
He was like, "This is so much fun.
Like, I haven't seen an action movie like this in a long time."
Why did you choose to do it,
and what made you think, "You know what?
I can make this something special"?
You know, first of all, thank you. Appreciate that, man.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. You know, but just like you,
I was at home as a kid
playing Rainbow Six video game for hours,
and, you know, and my mom would yell at me.
"Boy, get off that damn game!"
You know, it was like, you know...
And I would be in there envisioning myself,
like, in these missions.
So when I had the opportunity to take,
you know, uh, you know,
a Tom Clancy, you know, favorite,
you know, like... and John Kelly
and give it a, you know, a breath of fresh air,
modernize it, make it more of a reflection
of the world that we live in today...
I mean, these type of movies
are the things that I grew up watching.
Like, I-I love, like, action movies, you know?
So I was like, "One day, I want to do
"my own action, you know, movie, and I'm-a do my own stunts."
And this was the one for me to check that box.
You trained with... Like, it was actual Navy SEAL training
that you went through for this movie, right?
Yeah, I worked with, uh, you know, ex-military,
ex-Navy SEALS, ex-Marines, uh, military divers
for a lot of the water work that we had to do.
Really, every stunt that you saw,
I had a specialist that I spent, you know, enough time
to get comfortable with, um, within the stunt
and then went out and executed.
One of the most terrifying stunts in the movie,
and I won't spoil it for the people,
involves you in the ocean,
underwater in-in a vessel.
I won't tell the people what vessel it is.
Don't want to spoil anything.
But, like, you just...
You're just underwater for long...
The camera doesn't cut, as well.
That's something I noticed. We just follow you
holding your breath,
swimming underwater, swimming underwater, swimming...
And I was like... And I was like, "No, man.
Michael didn't do this." But you-you actually did that.
Yeah. Those are the...
That-that was the one that...
You know, it took us about a week and a half to shoot,
and every day, I would get up,
and I would get to set,
and I would be like, "Who wrote this?
-Why did we decide to-to do this?" -(laughs)
It was my favorite thing and then it was my...
least favorite. Like, I mean, I hated it.
And then I fell in love with it all over again
once we finished it, just because we accomplished it
-and we got it done. You know? -Right.
So, I mean, it-it was-- it was very ambitious,
but it-it was, uh, something that I had to do,
because Stefano wanted to shoot it in a way
that you knew it was me doing those stunts.
So, yeah, it was something I had to train really,
-really, really hard for. -What I loved about the story--
and, you know, to talk to your idea of modernizing the thing--
is, you know, I know Tom Clancy's novels well.
I've-I've read the books. I've played the games.
You know? What I loved about the film as well is
it made you think about this from the perspective
of the military personnel. You know?
People who go out there and go, "I'm fighting for my country,"
only to find out-- And we've seen that,
whether it was with 9/11 or whatever in America,
where they go, like, "Oh, this is-- this is false pretenses,
but this is actually my life."
You've always been somebody who's-who's been passionate
about, like, you know, telling military personnel stories
or-or connecting with them as human beings.
That part of the story seemed really important to you,
and I-I'd love to know what you were hoping to achieve
in telling that part of the story.
I think-- I think it's-it's just that.
You know, the honesty of what it's life--
what it's like b-- from the soldier's perspective,
who has a family, who has things that they care about.
You know, obviously, they're dedicated to a ser--
uh, to-to a service, to-to a country
in order to, you know, protect the oath.
You know what I'm saying? To-to, um...
Uh, to uphold those values.
But when that...
but when that comes home and-and you feel betrayed,
you know, and-and you're being lied to
on so many different levels, you know,
how far would a man go to get those answers?
You know, I think we've all felt like this at one point.
We feel so small. We feel like we--
Like, you know, I'm one person.
What-what does my opinion or what does--
or what can I do to possibly change this bigger thing,
this bigger elephant that's in the room, this bigger system?
And I think John felt like that for a majority of the movie,
until he started to really feel like,
"No, I'm-I'm taking the power back.
"I'm-- I actually can make a difference.
"I can. They're-they're gonna-- they're gonna see me,
"they're gonna feel me. You know what I mean?
They're gonna feel with the-- They messed up."
And I think, you know,
just getting people to think a little bit
and to, you know, obviously be entertained and have fun
while watching this movie but, at the same time,
uh, to start asking questions.
You got to hide the medicine in the food sometimes.
You got to put a little sugar with the-- with the medicine.
And this is a-a cool vehicle to, uh, have fun
but also to, uh... to think, too.
Yeah, man, I-I think part of what helps the people think
in this story is who the storytellers are.
I mean, you're amazing.
You have fans all over the world because of that.
But you have to admit, man,
your cast was phenomenal in this film.
Let's talk a little bit about, uh, Jodie Turner-Smith.
People fell in love with her in Queen & Slim.
She's back again in this film.
What was also amazing is seeing a woman--
and not just a woman but a Black woman--
assuming a high position not just in the film
but in the story as well.
Like, there were some beautiful scenes where it wasn't like,
oh, you know, the guy's got to help her.
It's like, no, no, no, she's a soldier.
She's here to fight. She's doing her thing.
That felt like an interesting way to tell the story
in a way that we haven't really seen, growing up as--
You know, like, when we watched movies as action--
like, let's be honest-- it was, like, Rambo helps
the damsel in distress all the time.
And then here it was like, no, everybody here is a soldier,
everybody's fighting.
Yeah, and-and that was one of the liberties that we did take.
You know, first Black female commander,
you know what I'm saying, in the Navy-Navy-- in the Navy SEALs
was something that we-- that we-we definitely made
a-a choice with.
There was a scene in there where, you know--
where a gun jammed, you--
Well, ah, okay, that's right. Spoiler alerts.
But there was a-- there was a-- there was a moment in there
where John goes to, like, you know, try to rescue and save,
you know, um, Greer, and-and, by the time I get there,
it's already neutralized and handled.
You know what I mean? So it-it was-- it was, um...
Yeah, man, it was really good to see that, man.
And I think, you know, what representation does
is so im-- is so important,
and we want that to inspire, uh,
so many, uh, young girls out there
that, uh... that maybe thought
that that wasn't possible or not for them,
that they can go ahead and try to get that, too.
Michael B. Jordan is now a moviemaker, a movie producer.
You've got a megadeal with Amazon.
You're gonna be creating content.
You're helping others create content.
You are a superstar in every single right.
I mean, 2020 saw you voted
as People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.
Where-where does life go from here for-for Michael B. Jordan?
Like, what-what are-- what are your goals now?
-What do you want to do? I mean, it's downhill from here, -Uh...
-let's be honest. Where do you go? -(laughs)
It's all downhill from here.
Uh, I mean, why not try my hand at directing?
I think that's kind of, like, the next thing,
you know, for me. The next challenge, man,
is to get behind the camera and tell a story.
Um, and, like, Creed 3 is the perfect vehicle for myself,
because, you know, the third time I'll--
I will be playing any character, you know?
Knowing the world. Um, you know, knowing how to, you know--
to film the boxing, uh, elements of it all,
uh, following such a strong system, you know, by Sly
that he created with the Rocky films
and that Creed, uh, um, continued to do.
You know, I guess, as an actor, uh, growing up in the industry,
you're taking directio-direction,
you know, all the time,
from every set that you-- that you work on.
And when you get to a point in age where you're like,
"Well, I kind of want the camera set up here"
and "I want to-- you know, I want to tell it
through this lens" and I-- You know, and-and...
I think it's the perfect time for me right now.
So I'm really excited about jumping off the deep end
and, uh, getting behind the camera and, uh--
and telling the story, so...
Well, if-if you don't do that,
you can go and shoot people.
-I think you're very good at that now. -(laughs)
You-you can go and-- you can go and, like, fight people.
I think you're extremely good at that now.
And if-if that fails--
I mean, you realize you-you could probably be a boxer
with all the training you've done now.
You do realize that, right?
-I could be okay. I mean... -Yeah.
I got so much respect for those boxers, man.
-It's-it's insane, but, you know... -Yeah,
but you've trained-- I'm just saying. I'm just saying.
Like, Michael B.-- I would put my money on you in a fight.
You know what, I appreciate that.
That-that means a lot,
because I will put my money on me in a fight, too.
Yeah. I thought you were gonna say you would put your money
on me in a fight, but then you just put it back on yourself.
-No, I mean-- I mean... -It's fine. Nah, nah, it's cool.
-It's cool. Mike, it's... -...put money on me but us.
(stammers) You can-- you can try and make me feel better,
-Michael, but, at the end of the day, -I'm sorry.
we know the truth, man.
We know where your money is.
Michael B. Jordan, I appreciate you, man.
I appreciate your time. I appreciate everything you do.
Look after yourself, my dude.
Man, keep up the good work, man. I'm so proud of you, brother.
Yo, you already know. I'm really proud of everything
that you're doing. So this is-- this was fun.
Much love, man. All right, Mike, take care.
All right, see you later, Trev.