Michael B. Jordan Recalls Heartwarming Moment Working With ‘Hero’ Keanu Reeves

Michael B. Jordan has worked with a number of other incredible actors throughout his career, and he recently spoke out about his Hardball co-star Keanu Reeves, recalling a heartwarming moment with the “hero.” While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jordan shared a story about Reeves taking the then-13-year-old and the rest of the young cast to dinner. He also introduced them to one of his famous Matrix co-stars.

“While we were in production, Keanu took the whole cast out to dinner and we had a chance to meet Laurence Fishburne,” he shared. “To this day, I still remember thinking to myself in astonishment, ‘I guess this is what movie stars do – take their casts out to dinner with other big actors.’ So much respect for Keanu and Laurence. It really was such a cool moment with two of my heroes.”

Hardball was released in 2001 and stars Reeves as a gambling addict and ticket scalper who agrees to coach a wayward Chicago little league team so that he can pay off a debt. The film is reminiscent of The Bad News Bears, or The Mighty Ducks, and came two years after The Matrix and two before The Matrix sequels: Reloaded and Revolutions. Hardball director Brian Robbins spoke to THR as well, recalling how the kids in the cast responded to Reeves.

“The Matrix was such a big thing,” Robbins said. “The kids would goof around with Keanu, re-enacting scenes, like dodging bullets in slow motion. They were in awe of Keanu. All these kids were new and raw and had never made a film before.” Going on to speak about his first impression of a young Jordan, Robbins said, “I remember him coming in the room and being super charismatic.” He added, “He was very confident — but not arrogant — and extremely likable.”

These days, Jordan has become a major A-list star himself, starring in films such as Black Panther, Just Mercy, and the Rocky spinoff, Creed. Recently, Jordan spoke about the upcoming third film in the Creed series confirmed that Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa won’t be featured, as he was in the first two films, but that they still have “something special” planned. “This is a Creed franchise, and we really want to build this story and this world around him moving forward,” he said.

Jordan continued, “So, it’s always respect and always a s—ton of love for what he’s built, but we really want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created. So, hopefully, you guys will love what I’m thinking… what we’re cooking up.” Creed III will be Jordan’s directorial debut and it is scheduled to be released Nov. 23, 2022.