NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The order came before he arrived. French fries and a glass of milk.
Jonathan Majors shortly after slides into a table in the back of the bar at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. On the table he places a small cup off to the side. In his backpack he has pens, a notebook he writes poetry in, a clown nose, the book he鈥檚 reading (James M. Cain鈥檚 鈥淭he Postman Always Rings Twice鈥�) and a speaker for music. He doesn鈥檛 go anywhere without Paulo Coelho鈥檚
Majors points to the cup. This one he鈥檚 had since Yale, where he attended the graduate acting program. It鈥檚 one of four he rotates, a symbol of his mother鈥檚 long-ago advice: 鈥淒on鈥檛 let anyone fill up your cup.鈥� And those things in his backpack? Totems not unlike the lucky stones and sticks he used to gather as a kid, he says, 鈥渢o keep my frequency where I want it to be.鈥�
There's much in Majors' life right now buzzing at a high frequency. In the days prior to meeting a reporter, Majors had been at t He was courtside at the NBA slam dunk contest, sitting near Spike Lee. After casting Majors in 鈥淒a 5 Bloods,鈥� Lee took to calling him 鈥淢orehouse鈥� for his character鈥檚 T-shirt. Now, Lee calls him 鈥淏ig Time.鈥�
鈥淚 woke up this morning and thought: I鈥檓 very exposed. Everything鈥檚 very exposed,鈥� Majors says. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 also a great deal of confidence because it鈥檚 like I鈥檓 ahead of it. It鈥檚 like I鈥檓 watching it in slow motion.鈥�
To everyone else, Majors is moving very fast, indeed. After the 33-year-old Majors has been steadily bulking up as an actor, expanding his formidable screen presence in 鈥淒evotion,鈥� 鈥淭he Harder They Fall鈥� and
But 2023 is the year Majors turns heavyweigh 鈥淟ovecraft Country,鈥� which earned him an Emmy nomination. t.
Majors is the new movies-spanning villain of Marvel-dom: the time-traveling supervillain Kang the Conqueror. He is Michael B. Jordan鈥檚 friend-turned-foe in which opens Friday in theaters. And in Elijah Bynum鈥檚 prize-winning Sundance entry Majors 鈥� in a performance that could well earn him an Academy Award nomination next year 鈥� is an amateur bodybuilder warped by childhood trauma.
Majors鈥� ascendance, to anyone who鈥檚 been watching, is not even a little surprising. The Texas son of a pastor, a Yale School of Drama-trained theater actor, a published poet, a classical and soulful performer, Majors is in a weight class by himself. Uncommonly sensitive as an actor, lyrical and loquacious as a person, Majors, a profound admirer of Sidney Poitier, is a rare and potent combination of serious thespian, thirsted-after hunk and devoted artist. And he's now stepping into, as Spike said, the big time. Global, magazine-cover fame is rapidly descending.
鈥淭hough I鈥檝e not seen the boogeyman, I know it鈥檚 out there,鈥� Majors says, smiling. 鈥淎nd I鈥檝e been around to know it鈥檚 comin鈥�. I won鈥檛 go down my rabbit hole of death, but it鈥檚 comin鈥�. But you outrun it. You just stay out of the frame. I鈥檒l stay out of the frame, make my work.鈥�
For each role this year, Majors has physically transformed himself. A diet of six meals a day and intense workouts made him a muscular mass. Yet the eye-catching metamorphosis belies the steadfast interiority of Majors' performances. Each character 鈥� a brawny but tender trio stretching from villain to antihero 鈥� is leaden with pain. The discomfort is what attracted him to the roles, especially Killian Maddox of 鈥淢agazine Dreams.鈥�
鈥淚 was curious if I could actually do that. Not even do it. If I was brave enough to go there for myself,鈥� Majors says. 鈥淭o feel something that鈥檚 inside of all of us, that rage, that awkwardness, that constant heartbreak that I do carry. I can鈥檛 hide from it. I have a beautiful daughter. I have a beautiful life. But there鈥檚 something inside that鈥檚 extremely unsatisfied. Extremely.鈥�
Where Majors鈥� pain comes from and how it applies to his acting is something you can鈥檛 help watching him in 鈥淢agazine Dreams鈥� (Searchlight Pictures will release it later this year) or in 鈥淐reed III,鈥� in which he plays a man newly freed from prison after a long incarceration for a violent but justifiable crime.
Majors, who has a 9-year-old daughter, grew up poor. His family were at times briefly homeless. His father was absent for most of his life. But putting that rags-to-riches narrative 鈥� that frame 鈥� around his journey as an actor is something that doesn't quite fit. Majors has no 鈥渋nsta-trauma,鈥� he says, to fuel him.
鈥淚 have no moment in my life where I go: That鈥檚 what I pull from all the time. I was afraid of that in drama school. My dad just vanished when I was 9 years old,鈥� Majors says. 鈥淵eah, you鈥檙e working through that stuff. But I remember saying very clearly: What鈥檚 going to happen when I no longer have that pain? When that thought of my dad doesn鈥檛 break my heart? Because we grow up. At some point it won鈥檛 mist you. What are you going to do then?鈥�
That doesn鈥檛 mean he doesn鈥檛 still sometimes sound haunted. 鈥淗ow could the best father in the world leave me? How could that happen?鈥� says Majors. 鈥淢y dad was a great guy. I have no bad memories of that man. I actually have no bad memories of my father, just his absence.鈥�
But Majors鈥� focus is more outward.
鈥淲hen you open up your life 鈥� any of us 鈥� to the suffering of what鈥檚 really happening, it gets deep,鈥� he says, rattling off a list of everything from the history of slavery to the George Floyd movement to the heartache of raising a child. 鈥淎ll those things break your heart if you care. And I care a great deal. I don鈥檛 know the level to which other people care because I鈥檓 not in their skin. But I know the stakes are always extremely high for me. It鈥檚 always life or death.鈥�
That, too, was Bynum鈥檚 experience working with Majors on 鈥淢agazine Dreams." Their long talks, he says, weren鈥檛 therapy sessions. To Bynum, Majors is 鈥渁 conduit for human empathy."
鈥淭he intelligence that he has and the instincts he has an actor are one thing, and those are wonderful,鈥� says Bynum. 鈥淏ut his understanding and feeling for people is really what separates him."
鈥淗e鈥檚 a pretty singular individual and incredibly cerebral and has been that way before any sort of attention has come his way for being that way,鈥� Bynum adds. He's not concerned about what fame might do to Majors, but he is worried about his schedule. 鈥淢aking another movie is going to be tough," says Bynum, "because he鈥檚 locked up in Marvel Land for God knows how long.鈥�
But there aren鈥檛 too many in the MCU who are simultaneously publishing poetry. Majors has had and is planning to publish a collection soon. In some of them, you can see reflections of Majors鈥� character work. In 鈥淥n an Aeroplane鈥� he writes, 鈥淚t becomes clear to me/ How society converts a hero/ How the villain finds virtue.鈥�
鈥淲riting鈥檚 interesting because it鈥檚 the subconscious made clear,鈥� Majors says. 鈥淵ou can examine it. What poems warn you not to do is explain it. Not explaining it and living in the ellipses, you get infinite understanding. Yeah, writing is an integral part to my existence but also to crafting characters.鈥�
What鈥檚 clear is that Majors鈥� mind is always working. Even in the background right now, in between late-show appearances and premieres, part of his focus is on his next role in an adaptation of Walter Mosley鈥檚 鈥淭he Man in My Basement.鈥� The building of a character, Majors says, is gentle. But it's constant.
鈥淚 actually work very slow,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 stop working. I am always working. And my body knows when it鈥檚 go-time.鈥�
All the other stuff ultimately has no bearing on where Majors' head is at. To explain it, he goes back to a formative moment for him, when he realized he wanted to be in actor. It was watching his theater teacher in a Dallas regional production of 鈥淭he Last Days of Judas Iscariot.鈥� It struck Majors like a thunderclap how his teacher transformed with laser-like focus into someone else on stage.
鈥淚 thought: Holy smokes. I want to do that,鈥� says Majors. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I鈥檓 at these days. I鈥檓 not shy, but I don鈥檛 really like to be bothered. I kind of stick to my stuff. I can be out and chatting and it doesn鈥檛 take away from what I鈥檓 going to do on screen. It makes no difference.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
