Michael B Jordan Explains Why He Chose Creed III As Directorial Debut: "It Was The Perfect Time"

Michael B. Jordan says Creed III was the "perfect" film to make his directorial debut on.

Jordan is reprising his role as Adonis Creed in Creed III, as well as stepping behind the camera as the first-time director

Speaking to Collider, Jordan said: "For me, it was the perfect time. Growing up on set, in the industry, over 20 years, and start out doing background work and extra work and just seeing the sets evolve and seeing everybody's job and seeing how a real production took place, I finally got to this place in my career where I wanted to tell a story and not just be in front of the camera to execute somebody else's vision."

Jordan has played Adonis in two previous movies — which were spun-off from the Rocky franchise — and explained that he is at the stage of his career where he can tell a story with his life experiences.

He explained: "It's a character that I've played twice before. It's been seven or eight years of living with this guy. I'm telling a story of where I believe Adonis is at, and also at 35 years old, I had a lot to say, as a young man and as a young black man, with my life experiences."

The Just Mercy star explained that "family" is at the centre of Creed III, which sees the eponymous pugilist taking on his childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian Anderson (Loki's Jonathan Majors).

Jordan said: "Thematically, for us, family is always the core — family and heart. There's a bit of facing your past and finding out who you really are. That's something we address in this movie. It's a homecoming. Remembering where you come from is really important in this.

"Sometimes settling debts and being accountable for your actions is something that we wanted to look at. This movie has a lot of me in it, and hopefully a lot of other people, as well. I wanted to create a story where everybody felt like they could relate to something in this movie."

Creed III opens in Singapore cinemas March 2.