Michael B. Jordan’s Big Break: How He Landed ‘All My Children’ Role After Boseman’s Exit

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‘All My Children’ Casting Director Recalls Hiring Michael B. Jordan After Chadwick Boseman Was Fired

Before their famous showdown in Wakanda, Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan nearly met on the set of Pine Valley.

Judy Blye Wilson, who was the casting director for All My Children, shared her experience of initially hiring Boseman to portray Reggie Montgomery in the popular ABC daytime drama in 2003, only to replace him shortly after with Jordan.

“At the time, I cast Boseman, who later became quite renowned. He only lasted a week on the series because they really were looking for someone to play a character around 15 or 16 years old,” Wilson explained during an event at 92Y, as reported by People.

Spotlight on Screen Talent

“Boseman had just graduated from Juilliard. He was an incredible talent to audition. But ultimately, he was let go,” she continued. “Then I brought in Michael B. Jordan, who achieved equal fame. He was about 15 at the time. I could say more, but perhaps I shouldn’t.”

In 2020, Michael Green, who was Boseman’s agent for many years, disclosed that Boseman was dismissed from the soap opera because he had voiced concerns about the negative stereotypes being perpetuated through his character’s storyline, which included his mother being depicted as a crack addict and his father as absent.

Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan in ‘Black Panther’ (2018) (Matt Kennedy/Marvel/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)

Boseman, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 43 from stage III colon cancer, reflected on his brief time playing Reggie during a 2019 conversation with Jordan for The Wrap.

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“You take on a role, and it’s not always clear,” he shared. “When I accepted it, I thought, ‘This doesn’t align with my vision. How can I make it work?’ With a soap opera, you’re often in the dark about future storylines—they don’t always know where a character will end up. That gives some leeway to reshape things, to ensure it doesn’t end up as just another stereotype.”

After Boseman’s departure, Jordan took over the role of Reggie on All My Children from 2003 to 2006. Their paths reconverged when they both starred in the 2018 Marvel hit Black Panther, with Boseman as the title character and Jordan as the antagonist Erik Killmonger.


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