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ESPN Daily

Why Creed III is Personal for Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Rocky franchise is one of the most quintessential sports series of all time. It spawned six sequels, and Philadelphia has embraced its fictional leading man as part of the cultural identity embedded in the city itself. And as Creed III -– the third sequel in a franchise that, itself, is a sequel — gears up for its release this weekend, its director/star Michael B. Jordan and co-star Jonathan Majors are stepping into the Hollywood spotlight. So today, Chris Connelly takes us inside the making of a sports movie that’s more personal for them than you might think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

So Chris, I do this whenever I run into you. I almost feel obliged to say that I watched

0:05.1

you interview actors growing up, which is to say that you've been interviewing actors for

0:09.5

how many years now. It's been over 40 years actually. I counted not long ago. Man. Okay. So

0:16.6

what you're doing here for us today, this cover story on Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan

0:21.7

Majors, the stars of Creed III, when you talk to them and you survey the work that they've made,

0:27.9

what part of making this film jumped out to you. I love the fact that guys who now have a little

0:34.4

industry respect and juice are using that. Michael B. Jordan, who is now a king of Hollywood,

0:45.2

who is bankable, and who could act in just about anything he wanted to, now wants to direct.

0:51.0

And that's that's a power move in the best sense, but it's also about taking charge of your message.

0:58.7

Because you could make more money doing a lot of other things. And in particular, both for

1:03.9

Jonathan Majors and for Michael B. Jordan, their rarefied status in the movie business allows

1:09.5

them to incorporate aspects of their personal lives into this movie Creed III. And while all

1:15.1

our biography isn't necessarily the highest form of art, it gives it a kind of intensity,

1:19.8

a sort of personal feel that I think makes it that much more exciting to watch.

1:24.0

Well, an actor just deciding to direct. Chris, I do want to jump into that a bit more because

1:30.3

there are stakes here with this sort of a move, right? I mean, in your 40 years of doing this,

1:34.7

I am sure you have seen this specific kind of a bet go horribly at times. But for this one,

1:41.8

give me a window into what Michael B. Jordan specifically wanted to do as a director. What was the

1:47.8

scene that you maybe talked to him about that still sticks with you? Well, the one that sort of

1:53.5

stuck out was right from the beginning. It's a scene in which Adana's Creed, who is now kind of

1:58.4

retired from the ring, comes out of the gym that he works out of. And there's a guy leaning against

2:03.0

his late model ride. A guy he doesn't immediately recognize, but who turns out to be an old friend of

...

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