Michael B. Jordan says that after filming wrapped for “Black Panther,” he needed therapy to get back to himself.
Jordan, who played villain Erik Killmonger in the superhero film, says that to get into character, he purposely distanced himself from others.
“I spent a lot of time alone,” Jordan revealed to Oprah Winfrey during a Super Soul Conversation taping Tuesday (via CNN). “I figured Erik, his childhood growing up was pretty lonely. He didn’t have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda that didn’t exist.”
The 31-year-old also leaned on the “pain and rage and all those emotions” Killmonger represents from “being black and brown here in America.”
When it was all finished, Jordan sought professional help.
“I think just being in that kind of mind state … it caught up with me,” the actor described.
After filming completed, he found it difficult reconnecting with people. “Readjusting to people caring about me, getting that love that I shut out,” Jordan shared. “I shut out love, I didn’t want love. I wanted to be in this lonely place as long as I could.”
Overall, Jordan says his therapy sessions “helped me out a lot.” He didn’t reveal how often he went or if he continues today.
“Your mind is so powerful. Your mind will get your body past a threshold that it would have given up on way before,” Jordan said. “Honestly, therapy, just talking to somebody just helped me out a lot. As a man, you get a lot of slack for it. … I don’t really subscribe to that. Everyone needs to unpack and talk.”