Creed III: Michael B. Jordan Talks Directing, Being A ‘Girl Dad’ Like Kobe

Adonis Creed is back and better than ever in Creed III.

HipHollywood caught up with the cast, including star Michael B. Jordan about stepping into the ring as a first time director and who gave him advice.

“I mean, you know, obviously Ryan Coogler. That’s my brother. I talk to him all the time,” he said. “Steven Caple Jr. I talked to Bradley Cooper. John Favreau, Denzel Washington.”

“Those are a pretty good list,” he added. “They gave me some great advice from storyboarding to don’t overthink the acting and directing of it all. And when you’re in it, you’ll find your natural rhythm and pattern and you’ll be fine. So all that really helped as I was going through my process.”

In the film, Jordan also steps into the role of husband and father …and scenes with his hearing impaired daughter, played by Mila Davis Kent, are the sweet spot of the film.

“In boxing there is so much fathers and sons. Fathers and sons,” said Jordan. “It was really good to have a fresh take on a father-daughter relationship in that type of way, and I thought it was cool. Mila’s amazing. She plays Amara, and she’s so fearless, and she’s such a natural. So we had a lot of fun, and yeah, we had a lot of fun.”

“She’s such a singular talent and it’s incredible to see her in her debut,” said Tessa Thompson who returns in the role of Bianca. “But then to also know the kind of representation that she provides for a whole community that doesn’t often get to see themselves on screen is so special.”

Jordan told us he loved being a ‘girl dad’ onscreen, a phrase often used to describe the late Kobe Bryant who was the proud father of four daughters.

“I think Kobe really, you know, coined that girl dad phrase. And, you know, having a lot of men in my life who have daughters, and their relationships being so strong, I felt like it was an accurate portrayal of what that should be.”

In the ring, Jordan faces off against childhood friend Damien “Dame” Anderson, played by Jonathan Majors who gives a knockout performance (pun intended).

“When I met Michael for the first time in person he was like ‘hey I want this to be two gladiators in the ring,'” said Majors. “We’re both very athletic guys, so I was in good shape. But that was just a baseline because where I was and where Dame is in the film, there was a lot of work done between it and that.”

As for the future of the franchise, Jordan says this isn’t the end.

“There’s so many different platforms and mediums to tell stories. I think we built enough characters that are interesting enough that people are curious about where they’re going next and what happens.
It could be a million different things. From TV to movies to animation to video games, graphic novels. We’re building out the Creed-verse.”

Creed III hit theaters on March 3.