Oscar wins like Michael B. Jordan’s don’t happen very often.
The 39-year-old “Sinners” star defied plenty of historical precedent on Sunday night, earning the best actor Oscar even though the academy usually makes young leading men wait a long time for that honor. Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated five times before finally winning, while Bradley Cooper, another five-time acting nominee, and Timothée Chalamet — nominated three times, including this year for “Marty Supreme” — are still waiting.
So how did Jordan pull it off on his first nomination, especially after being snubbed by the Oscars for his past work in films like “Black Panther”? And what happened to Chalamet, who once appeared to be this season’s front-runner after wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards?
By way of answering, let me first note that a successful Oscar strategy has a lot in common with actual politicking: Though a candidate can win the day on talent alone, a well-run campaign often has just as much to do with it. Jordan’s was smoothly waged on behalf of a movie voters loved, since “Sinners” was a strong contender for best picture and won three other Oscars, for its original screenplay, its score and its cinematography. In a year when the academy appeared eager to reward Jordan’s longtime collaborator, the writer-director Ryan Coogler, it also felt fitting to recognize the actor Coogler has cast in every film he’s made.
Jordan is more a movie-star presence than a chameleonic character actor, but technical skill was clearly required to play his dual role as twins in “Sinners,” and he also learned a period dialect for the film. Those kinds of details often earn the respect of other performers, and they probably helped Jordan at the Actor Awards, voted on by the Screen Actors Guild. Though that ceremony delivered Jordan’s only significant precursor win this season, it took place during the Oscar-voting period and gave him a high-profile victory that many had expected would go to Chalamet, who had won the same award the previous year for his role in a Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown.”
When Chalamet accepted that trophy, he acknowledged that “the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me.” Instead, he spent much of that speech touting his own pursuit of greatness, a mind-set that would inform his “Marty Supreme” press tour and early awards appearances this season, ultimately rubbing some voters the wrong way.
To promote “Marty Supreme” in December, Chalamet embarked on an unconventional marketing blitz that had more in common with an album rollout than a movie release. In a collaboration with Aidan Zamiri, a director and creative image-maker known for his work with the pop stars Charli XCX and Billie Eilish, Chalamet’s campaign featured attention-grabbing stunts like a Sphere takeover, limited-edition merch drops and red-carpet outfits color coordinated with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.
On a purely promotional basis, this strategy worked: “Marty Supreme” grossed $179 million worldwide and became A24’s highest-grossing movie, no small feat for a period film about table tennis. But while that flashy campaign successfully spoke to Gen-Z moviegoers, Chalamet’s subsequent Oscar push required a pivot to wooing older voters that I don’t think he ever pulled off. They wanted to be reassured of his maturity, but instead, they began to wonder if this 30-year-old was ready for their highest honor.
Chalamet was a conspicuous no-show at some industry events, like the schmoozy Governors Awards in November, and arrived late to others. And while some of his braggadocio during the campaign felt more like viral marketing, given that he seemed to be channeling his “Marty Supreme” character’s almost grating self-confidence, Chalamet failed to clearly communicate that approach in the press. Eventually, voters soured on what they perceived as his entitled attitude.
Oscar voting had nearly closed by the time Chalamet made headlines for an event with Matthew McConaughey in which he discussed his desire to keep moviegoing at the forefront of culture, saying, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’” Still, the backlash to those comments proved how disenchanted many people had already become with him over the course of the campaign. Even Steven Spielberg, about as neutral a Hollywood figure as you can find, got a jab in at Chalamet’s expense during a panel at South by Southwest.
It may be unrealistic to expect modesty from a male movie star, and it’s not as though Jordan is the picture of humility, either: When I profiled him in 2018, he had just taken a page from Beyoncé’s playbook by hiring a videographer to document his daily life. Hollywood counts on these young leading men to draw audiences, but when they seem to have it all — fame, good looks and beautiful girlfriends — older Oscar voters can take a perverse pleasure in withholding the one thing still outside their grasp.
So how did Jordan manage what Chalamet couldn’t? Part of it comes down to a more traditional campaign, as Jordan carried himself with the finesse of a classic movie star, in contrast to Chalamet’s more chaotic, headline-grabbing approach.
But much of it may have to do with timing. During the months when Chalamet was considered the front-runner, he drew heat and scrutiny that Jordan largely avoided. In mid-February, when Chalamet lost the BAFTA to the British actor Robert Aramayo (“I Swear”), it felt like an inflection point: Suddenly, this was anybody’s race.
Jordan’s Screen Actors Guild win on March 1 was met with such enthusiasm — even the presenter Viola Davis was overcome — that Oscar voters ultimately decided to keep those good times going. And while the academy often prefers to reward a veteran in this category, the 39-year-old Jordan probably gained an advantage from his contrast with Chalamet, appearing more mature and better equipped to handle the honor.
Maybe Oscar voters have changed, too. Though they are often derided for being out of step with the tastes of young audiences, I suspect that the continuing fear and uncertainty about the future of moviegoing has prodded academy members to invest in the few bankable young stars they can boast of. At a party the night before the Oscars, I spoke to a well-connected insider who predicted Jordan would win.
“It’s what the industry wants,” he said simply. “And it’s good for the industry.”
Kyle Buchanan is a pop culture reporter and also serves as The Projectionist, the awards season columnist for The Times.
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