The actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his ambitious dual performance in the supernatural thriller Sinners, capping off one of the most talked-about performances of the year. Jordan portrayed twin brothers Smoke and Stack in the film, delivering two sharply distinct characters that anchored the film’s eerie, genre-bending story.
Jordan triumphed over Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia).
The film marks the fifth collaboration between Jordan and director Ryan Coogler, following Fruitvale Station, Creed and two Black Panther movies. In the 1930s-set story, Jordan plays identical twins returning to the American South after World War I to open a juke joint — only to find their small town besieged by vampires. The genre-bending film became one of the Academy’s biggest contenders, earning a record 16 nominations.
His victory also places him among a small group of Black actors to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. The milestone was first achieved by Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field in 1964. In the decades since, the honor has gone to Denzel Washington (Training Day), Jamie Foxx (Ray), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Will Smith (King Richard).