The interactions we see, Jordan says, verifiably happened. Coogler reconstructed Oscar's last day from trial records and court transcripts, while an attorney representing Grant's family provided access to witnesses on the train and passers-by who shared time with Oscar on his last day. Jordan is keen to talk up the film's documentary basis. He can hold a scene just by straining the cords on his neck, or shrugging someone off with a loose, evasive smile. Fruitvale, though, shows Jordan's ability to communicate the essence of a complex, uncertain young man through a mosaic of tiny details. The mainstream has called with lighter roles – his turn as the Human Torch is buttressed by supporting roles in That Awkward Moment, a romcom with Zac Efron, and with Dane DeHaan in Chronicle, a film about teenagers with superpowers. Jordan's performance in Fruitvale Station has been likened to a young Denzel Washington. What wasn't widely reported was the fact he died on his mother's birthday, and had spent the early evening with his infant daughter, girlfriend, mother, grandma and extended family, eating gumbo and birthday cake. All I want to know is why."Īs the ensuing smear campaign made clear – and as the film is careful to recognise – Grant was an ex-con with a dangerous temper who sold drugs between jobs. "It seems to be happening again and again young men from minorities slain by authorities that are supposed to serve and protect," Jordan says, his voice an even cool. They can say what they want, but a handgun is very different to a taser."įruitvale was released in America just as George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood watch volunteer who killed the unarmed Trayvon Martin, was cleared of murder. "Do I feel any sympathy for the police that night, in that heightened situation on Fruitvale Station?" Jordan asks. He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and walked free after 11 months. The officer who fired the shot testified that in a panic he mistook the gun for his taser. Then, one of the officers unholsters his handgun and shoots Grant in the back. It shows Grant trying to plead his innocence as he is cuffed and held face-down on the platform. Watching that footage, you think: 'That could have been me.'" We both grew up in inner cities, in similar situations. "I remember watching it again and again, feeling more and more angry. "I was living in LA, broke as hell and getting ready to go back home to New Jersey when I saw Oscar Grant's murder on Facebook," Jordan says. Reading this on mobile? Click here to view Coogler grew up in the same neighbourhood, is the son of a community organiser and probation officer, works as a counsellor in a juvenile prison, and has made his point in interviews time and again: "Homicide through gun violence is the leading cause of death among young African-American males in the United States." Footage taken by a fellow passenger went viral, sparking riots across the city. It's based on a true story, retelling the final day of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black man from the San Francisco Bay area who, in the small hours of New Year's Day 2009, got caught up in a fight on a packed-out train, before being shot by a policeman in the chaotic aftermath. Fruitvale Station, Jordan's first lead role, is directed by Ryan Coogler, a 28-year-old debutante straight out of film school, and shot in a clean cinéma vérité style for less than $1m. "That's usually the first thing people say to me."īut being young, black and American can also cost you your life, as his new film shows with brutal precision. "I'm always hearing, 'Where's Wallace, String? Where's Wallace?'" he says, laughing. You'll probably know him from The Wire as Wallace, the project pawn in Avon Barksdale's drug cartel, the one with the wide cornrows, wider eyes and all-too-obvious conscience. Despite being an obsessive basketball player, he made his name with the NBC American football series Friday Night Lights. He started acting and modelling early, as well as learning to tap-dance, and his first break was in a Toys R Us advert. Michael Bakari Jordan (his middle name is Swahili for "noble promise"), 27, grew up in New Jersey, the son of a teacher and a caterer.
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