Michael B. Jordan wins best actor for ‘Sinners,’ taking home his first Oscar in popular victory

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael B. Jordan has been building toward a performance like “Sinners” for over 20 years. Now he has the best actor Oscar as his reward in what proved to be a hugely popular win.

Jordan got one trophy for playing identical twins Smoke and Stack in the blues-seeped supernatural horror film set in 1930s Mississippi that earned a record 16 Academy Award nominations and won four.

Last year's winner, Adrien Brody, announced Jordan's name Sunday night, setting off a wild celebration inside the Dolby Theatre. Teyana Taylor, a supporting actress nominee for “One Battle After Another,” joined the standing ovation, mouthing, “Yes!”

Jordan was cheered loudly as he made his way through the backstage photo and interview rooms. The win is Jordan's first Oscar.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years and there’s a lot of people who have seen me grow up in this industry,” he said backstage, “and they looked out for me when they didn’t have to.”

Jordan is eager to pass on that support.

“I'm really big on the next generation, so, try to be an example,” he said. “I’m not a big talker, I’m about action. I like to lead by example.”

Jordan is the sixth Black man to win the best actor trophy. He joins Will Smith (“King Richard,” 2020), Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland,” 2006), Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” 2004), Denzel Washington (“Training Day,” 2001) and Sidney Poitier (“Lillies of the Field”), who was the first in 1963.

“I stand here because of the people that came before me — Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith,” he said on stage, “and to be up amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys, thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home supporting me over my career.”

Jordan added, “I know you guys wanted me to do well and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keep betting on me. I’m going to keep stepping up, and I’m going to keep being the best version of myself I can be.”

The other nominees were Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme,” Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke of “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent.”

Chalamet had been the early Oscar favorite after wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. But Jordan surprised himself by winning at the Actor Awards, giving him momentum in the final days of Oscar voting.

“Sinners” reunited Jordan and writer-producer-director Ryan Coogler. They go back to their first collaboration in 2013.

“You’re an amazing person,” Jordan told Coogler from the stage. “You gave me the opportunity and space to be seen.”

Jordan’s breakthrough film role came in Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” for which he received critical praise playing a real-life man who was killed by police. It was Coogler’s directorial debut, and they followed with “Creed,” “Black Panther” and now “Sinners.”

Jordan’s initial acting success came in television. He had a small yet pivotal role in “The Wire” in 2002, followed by the daytime drama “All My Children,” in which he replaced Chadwick Boseman, and “Friday Night Lights.”

He and Boseman later acted together in “Black Panther” and were close friends until Boseman’s death from colon cancer in 2020. Jordan dedicated his acting award from this year’s NAACP Image Awards to Boseman.

Jordan, a 39-year-old who also produces and directs, was named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2020.

Jordan shared Oscar night with his mother, Donna, who hugged her son upon hearing his name, and his father Michael A. Jordan, as well as his two siblings. He espoused the values that he was taught growing up in Newark, New Jersey.

“I’m just walking my path, just trying to be locked in,” he said backstage. “Dream big, man, and be kind and be honest. That’s how I try to live.”

For more coverage of the 2026 Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Michael B. Jordan accepts the award for actor in a leading role for "Sinners" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Adrien Brody looks on from right.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Michael B. Jordan accepts the award for actor in a leading role for "Sinners" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Michael B. Jordan accepts the award for actor in a leading role for "Sinners" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Michael B. Jordan accepts the award for actor in a leading role for "Sinners" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour had lost 1,000 local council seats across England and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK won almost 1,300 seats across England, came second in Wales and made significant gains in Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.

Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.

Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London.

Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in Parliament and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”

“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.

“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)