The holiday release A Journal For Jordan has made a lot of headlines recently. First of all, it’s a true story about a father and son, as well as a love story between a man and his wife. Second of all, it stars none other than Michael B. Jordan, and it marks the first time Jordan has collaborated with Denzel Washington, who directed the movie. What hasn’t come up as much is Michael B. Jordan’s butt. Until now.
Michael B. Jordan’s been doing a bunch of press for A Journal For Jordan, and I have to wonder if he anticipated the high level of interest in the notable love scene in the movie, which features a shot of the actor in the buff. When asked about it by Variety, he said:
I don’t think it was written like that, so I don’t think I read anything that was like, ‘Oh yeah, Charles walks in and his butt [flashes] across the screen.’ It was more of in the moment, like, how are we shooting this shot? … And, we went for it. We knew the movie that we were making. And we wanted something that would give people what they want, so that’s what we went for.
The scene in the move is brief, but it does pan over Michael B. Jordan’s butt, as he himself notes, and it’s not really a moment fans watching the film would miss. As the scene has started running around prior to A Journal For Jordan’s December 25 release, Jordan has spoken out about it several times, including speaking on the subject of wanting to hire a woman to “shoot” the film, which is how the moment really came about.
That lady ended up being cinematographer Maryse Alberti, whose idea it was to come at the love scene from that angle. In fact, Jordan also shared with Yahoo how the butt-oriented scene came about and how it wasn’t his idea. (Obviously.) He said he asked Alberti where the camera would focus during the scene and she answered:
She’s like, ‘Michael B. Jordan’s butt.’ I’m like ‘Well, I didn’t think of that.’
Still, it sounds like the former Sexiest Man Alive really went for the scene. After all, he knew he’d signed up for a romance for really the first time in his career and honestly, given he’s been on a fitness “mission,” why not? He wanted to tell a story that would resonate with the audience, and a butt shot definitely adds a level of intimacy to any scene.
A Journal for Jordan also stars Chanté Adams as Jordan’s mother, who falls in love with MBJ’s character Charles Monroe King, before he ultimately ships off to Iraq. During his time overseas, he keeps a journal for their son, Jordan. You can see the full trailer below.
The film officially hits this holiday season on December 25 and reviews of the movie have already started dropping. You can see what else is heading to theaters at the end of the year with out 2021 movies schedule.