The third film of the 'Rocky' franchise spinoff hits theaters on March 3.
If Jonathan Majors seems like he's everywhere recently, that's because he is! The actor has starred in three feature films this year and we're only three months in.
From playing an aspiring bodybuilder in January's Magazine Dreams to the formidable Kang the Conqueror in February's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, he's been making his mark. And now the 33-year-old is earning critical acclaim for his role in the highly anticipated third installment of the Rocky spinoff franchise, Creed III, which also serves as Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut. And according to critics, the cast did the thing.
Majors admits to ET's Nischelle Turner that he hasn't contemplated the fact that he's now part of the iconic Rocky franchise because "it's a mind trip."
"You know how there is no spoon? I'm like, 'I'm just making the movie. It's just a regular movie,'" he adds humbly, referencing the iconic Matrix scene. "I think the overwhelming honor of that is quite beautiful, so, you know, I'm happy."
The film picks up four years after the events of Creed II, finding Adonis (Jordan) and his wife, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), comfortably successful in their life as they happily raise their daughter, Amara (Mila Davis-Kent) -- who was born in the previous installment -- in Los Angeles. Amid this bliss, Adonis is surprised by the arrival of an old friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Majors).
The duo was arrested and taken to a Los Angeles youth detention center when they were younger, but Adonis is the lucky son of a former heavyweight champion who was taken in by his father's widow. His journey led him down a path to fame and wealth while Damian was left in prison for 18 years, showing up after he "just got out last week." Driven by a sense of guilt, Adonis welcomes Damian into his life only to quickly realize the other's intentions aren't as pure as he thought. While Adonis recalls the two "were like brothers," Damien prefers to remember that he was "the best... But I never got a chance to prove that."
The film takes viewers on a torpedo of emotions as the two kindred spirits clash, threatening their brotherhood as Dame's hunger for the fame he feels owed grows.
While fans are definitely invested in the film for the plot, it would be hard to deny that Majors and Jordan paint an impressive picture after getting into fighting shape for the film. Jordan explains that he wanted to position Adonis as the underdog in this situation despite his years of professional fighting.
"I wanted you guys going into that last fight not knowing who was going to win," he adds. "So we needed somebody physically formidable, you know, on top of his stuff."
To prove his point, Majors admits that he's maintaining the physique he's earned while working on his physically demanding projects. "Right now I'm probably four [percent] body fat but also five or six pounds heavier than [when I was on set]," he tells ET, noting that the work for Ant-Man was markedly different than Magazine Dreams, when he had less than four percent body fat. But he says that he generally prefers to keep a "healthy" diet and exercise routine and wanted to "gun it and get more specific" for Creed.
"It's a lifestyle. I'm going for overall health. I actively don't show my body [much], I wear big clothes," the actor says, noting that he generally keeps his body "for me and whoever."
"This was the first time I was like, 'OK, it's gonna be on display more or less.' And, as we talked about the honor of joining the Creed-verse, Rocky-verse in the the new installment, you want to do right by everyone that's coming before you," he adds. "And you want to do right by [Jordan]. You want a bad guy? You want a formidable foe? You got it."
But it's not just about the fighting and the workouts! Majors shares that he formed a close friendship with Jordan, who impressively pulled double duty as star and director of the film. Majors recalls a joyous moment toward the end of filming a montage that Jordan was excited by, and when filming was finished, "that boy came around that corner just like, 'Ooooooh!' My brother's happy, my director's happy because we can all feel what we were doing. You know what I mean? Like, the montage was a part of the Creed/Rocky world, like we gotta do the montage."
"When he came out and I saw my man, I saw his face and was like, 'Oh, you happy with that,'" he recalls, smiling.
Creed III hits theaters March 3.
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