<\/p>\n
Michael B. Jordan is officially an Academy Award winner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
After weeks of anticipation, the Oscars underdog-turned-frontrunner nabbed the Best Actor award on Sunday for his riveting work in Ryan Coogler\u2019s \u201cSinners,\u201d beating out fellow nominees Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Wagner Moura and Ethan Hawke.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Jordan\u2019s dual roles as gangster twins in \u201cSinners\u201d earned him his first Oscar nomination and, now, his first win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith,\u201d he said, naming Black actors who have won the lead actor Oscar. \u201cTo be amongst those giants, those greats, amongst my ancestors…\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He continued, \u201cThank you everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keeping betting on me. I\u2019m going to keep stepping up, and I\u2019m going to keep being the best version of myself I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He was widely praised throughout awards season for his stunning portrayal of the infamous Smoke-Stack twins, who return home to the South to open their very own juke joint, only to find themselves under attack by vampires drawn to the blues music played by their cousin Sammie (newcomer Miles Caton<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jordan\u2019s Oscar victory follows other major honors for his work in \u201cSinners\u201d this year. He won Best Actor at SAG\u2019s Actor Awards<\/a> and the NAACP Image Awards, where he was also named Entertainer of the Year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Heading into Sunday\u2019s ceremony, \u201cSinners\u201d had already made history with 16 Academy Award nominations \u2014 the most ever for a single film in one year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The film won four Oscars. Coogler won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Ludwig Goransson picked up the Oscar for Best Original Score, his third win in the category after winning for \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n