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If you’re paying attention to some of the biggest new movies, then chances are you’ve seen Jonathan Majors.
It’s safe to say Jonathan is making a name for himself and becoming one of the most in-demand actors working today. So, to celebrate, here are 21 facts you probably never knew about him:
1.
First, Jonathan was born on September 7, 1989 in California and lived on the Vandenberg Air Force Base alongside his brother and sister, until their mother moved them back to her hometown of Dallas, Texas.
2.
Jonathan has talked about his childhood and how his mother was “really good at keeping [him and his siblings] safe,” but he still acted out. He was caught shoplifting, got into several fights that resulted in school suspension, and he was thrown out of his house and had to live in his car while working two jobs.
3.
Speaking about growing up in a working-class household in an affluent neighborhood, Jonathan said, “I found myself getting into fights, being bullied, and then retaliating.” From 14 years old and on, theater was the one constant thing in his life. He said he was motivated by “that emotionality, that impulsivity, that need to connect. I just wanted to be in the world and be a part of it.”
4.
He attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and then went to Yale School of Drama.
5.
His first major acting credit was in the limited series When We Rise (2017), where he played a younger version of Michael K. Williams’s character Ken Jones. Jonathan and Michael would later reunite on Lovecraft Country.
6.
In fact, Jonathan booked When We Rise while he was still a student. He explained that Yale School of Drama has a policy where you can’t leave for acting work, but they made an exception for him.
7.
Jonathan received critical acclaim for his work in the 2019 film The Last Black Man in San Francisco. His work as Montgomery Allen in the movie is what made Marvel casting director Sarah Halley Finn realize he’d make a great Kang the Conqueror in the MCU.
8.
Jonathan has a 9-year-old daughter. Talking about what lessons he’s taught his daughter, Jonathan told Ebony, “We teach worth and value in our household, and self-worth. A big thing is, as she changes her hair up, I’m very clear to tell her I liked it the way it was. I love it now; I loved it then. Another thing we teach is smiling. Your emotions belong to you. No man can make you do anything or feel anything.”
9.
Jonathan was originally cast in The Trial of the Chicago 7, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. At the time, he was filming Da 5 Bloods, Lovecraft Country, AND The Harder They Fall back-to-back following the release of The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
10.
He received his first Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work as Atticus “Tic” Freeman in Lovecraft Country in 2021. In fact, until Lovecraft Country, Black actors from the same project had never been recognized in all four acting categories.
11.
Jonathan said that he saw a lot of himself in Tic from Lovecraft Country, which is what initially drew him to the role. He told Entertainment Weekly, “I experienced hiding away and being by myself in books. I, too, had an estranged father. There are so many elements that [I related to]. Also, growing up in the South, I’m very familiar with the relations between the African American community and the white community down home in Texas.”
12.
He joined the MCU as Kang in 2021, a role that will span both the TV shows and movies. He’s already appeared in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and he’s set to be one of the leads in the upcoming Avengers movies: Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
13.
He is known around Hollywood for his “immersive approach” to acting, and he describes it as “a blend of different method acting styles.” Instead of being “excessive” in his method acting approach, he more so looks at it as doing “whatever it takes.”
14.
Jonathan trained like a real boxer to prepare for Creed III. Michael B. Jordan told him that he wanted Adonis and Damian to look like two “gladiators in the ring,” and that was the inspiration for their training. He trained three times a day to get into boxing shape for the film.
15.
Then, his training continued after Creed III for the movie Magazine Dreams, where he plays an aspiring bodybuilder. However, for this role, he spent “about 18 months training and consumed 6,100 calories a day to maintain 202 pounds on his 6-foot frame.”
16.
Jonathan has spoken about how Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight inspired him. He told Entertainment Weekly, “Okay, first of all, he’s gorgeous. He’s got that fucking jawline, and he didn’t give a fuck. He threw his body around. He was so full. And I went, ‘I’m coming for that. I’m inspired.’ It takes a lot, you feel me? To be inspired.”
17.
In fact, in 2022, Jonathan penned an essay for Variety where he talked about how The Dark Knight shows “what it means to be human.” He talked about the complexity Ledger brought to the role of the Joker and how he vividly remembers seeing the movie in theaters for the first time when he was 18.
18.
Jonathan has said that the actors he looked up to growing up were Denzel Washington, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Ben Kingsley.
19.
However, he’s also said that he’s inspired by younger talent, like Daniel Kaluuya, Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, and Zendaya.
20.
Jonathan loves music and often makes playlists for himself and other people. After seeing Creed in 2015, the film inspired his gym playlist. Then, while filming Devotion, he would send his scene partners “written letters and songs relevant to their roles.”
21.
And finally, he helped found the Gotham Sidney Poitier Initiative, which he describes as “an ambitious set of programs developed around the spirit Sidney Poitier brought to the world as he broke down the barriers in the film industry and the minds of audiences. SPI aims to expand on this legacy to support the next generation of filmmakers.”
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