Michael B. Jordan is hungry. After appearing in the now classic Friday Night Lights and criminally underrated Chronicle, the actor continued to flex his range by appearing in last year's critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station. After the announcement, and subsequent knee-jerk internet, fan-boy outrage, that Jordan would be playing the role of Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot, the actor has already been signed to play Storm in the 2017 sequel. Jordan is young, talented, and on his grind in the most serious way possible and Complex caught up with Jordan ahead of his upcoming partnership with AXE and talked about women, dating, East coast burgers vs. West coast burgers, and, of course, Johnny Storm.
You’re actually directing a short film for Axe?
Well, it’s technically a commercial spot, an online commercial ad, so I co-directed that, I finished that yesterday and that was incredible, it was awesome, man. Just diving into people’s temptations, you know, topic, it’s so interesting ‘cause it can go anywhere. It’s so diverse, there’s so many different levels of temptation, and I think Axe Gold really just nails it as far as product slant, then we have this cool visual, and then we have this ad supporting it, it’s going to be really fun to see it unrolled.
Oh yeah, totally. And segueing into scent, if you were to define success, what does success smell like to you?
What does success smell like? Man, what does success smell like? Like…really, off the top of my head, it’s like waking up and stepping outside and smelling like, that morning mist. It’s just like yeah, like okay, cool. You know, it’s the things you gotta be grateful for, I think success is just like man, this is a great feeling, I woke up this morning, some people are maybe dead. I think success is just like…that’s the first thing that popped in my head, so I’m gonna go with that one.
Yeah, so what’s a smell that you can’t say no to? What’s something that you smell that you’re defenseless against it?
It’s probably Krispy Kreme donuts, man. I don’t’ know, it’s like you literally will drive by and see that hot sign on and you just smell it and it’s like awww man. Or like In N Out? In L.A., you ever had In N Out burger before?
Yeah, every time I go to the West coast, that’s like the first stop.
You need that, you need that number one animal style, that double-double-animal style, you need that, you need it.
I know, we’re still struggling here in New York. I mean we have Shake Shack, which is amazing, don’t get me wrong.
Nah, you know if In N Out came out they’d shut it down, right? If you put it right next to a McDonalds, I think they might just have to like, leave.
Yeah, totally. You actually just finished shooting Fantastic Four, and you worked with your co-star Miles Teller before. In a single word, how does he smell? What word would you use to describe him, in a smell?
Uhhhhm, wick.
Okay, what about Kate Mara?
Let’s see, Kate would be like…mmm….I don’t know that’s a good one! You asked such a great question, I’m trying to think. I think like a fresh, seasonal salad.
Alright, awesome.
Yeah, ‘cause she doesn’t eat meat, she’s always eating some type of vegetable, drinking some juice, so she’s like, yeah, I’ll take a nice salad.
Like a $16 cold-pressed green juice.
Like a $40 salad, something that’s just like, over the top. With truffle oil.
Oh yeah, obviously. And what about Jamie Bell?
Jamie? Fresh-cut grass.
Oh that was easy, you didn’t even have to think about it.
Haha, nah.
The Fantastic Four, this series has been a publication for I mean, fifty plus years. How did you go about making Johnny Storm yours, you know what I mean?
I mean, a lot of it is Josh’s (director Josh Trank) vision. Literally, it’s Josh’s vision, it’s his project, his cerebral, so it’s a lot of familiar characteristics that people are used to seeing from Johnny, but as far as making it my own, it’s kind of built in. It’s so hard to explain that, I can’t wait for you guys to see it. ‘Cause once you get the tone of the film, you kind of understand the stakes behind it, it’s a little darker, it’s not going to be a completely new reinvention of Johnny. You have a lot of familiar tones there, but at the same time I got my own thing to be, you know I’m me, you gonna get some Michael B. in there as well.
Yeah, you know, as long as doesn’t lose any of that sort of youthful brash and arrogant vibe that people come to expect, I think that’s totally the right direction.
Yeah.
You get one superpower for 24 hours, what is it, and what do you do with it?
Teleportation.
Didn’t even have to think about it?
Nah, I just, I need to go, right now. The freedom of travel I think is amazing, so to be somewhere in an instant? I’m taking that one.
