'Creed' Actor Michael B. Jordan Talks 'Rocky' Spinoff; Director Comments About Marvel's 'Black Panther'

By Roemart Tamayo | Nov 24, 2015 06:10 AM EST

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"Creed," a spin-off of the successful "Rocky" franchise, is looking to take you back on what made the originally movie a success.

The movie's lead actor Michael B. Jordan talked about the diet and training he had to undergo just for him to perfectly play the role.

When asked by Men's Fitness what he did to obtain the character's physique, Jordan credited "extreme diet change" and said that "I stripped down my diet completely. Grilled chicken, brown rice, broccoli, a lot of water. I worked out two to three times a day, six days a week. And if you do that consistently for about 10 months, your body will change."

But speaking on the more important details of the movie, the actor also discussed what it's like working with legendary actor and "Rocky" himself, Sylvester Stallone.

Jordan said, "Stallone took the pressure off me, not to compete or compare with anything he did 40 years ago," while adding, "Physically, I felt the pressure, because they did such a good job back in the day-Carl Weathers and Sly were really cut to a 'T.' So me and my trainer, we really wanted to set the bar pretty high."

While the actor worked mainly with trainer Core Calliet to develop his build, he also asked Stallone for his knowledge in on-screen boxing.

"Stallone knows movie boxing better than anyone else," Jordan said. "When I needed to sell a punch, or really 'telegraph this' or 'telegraph that,' he connected the dots for me."

According to USA Today, the veteran actor was actually hesitant at first to make the movie saying that that it's a big experiment for him. He also wondered what kind of sentimentality or the "underdog" aspect of Rocky can still be valid today, if seen in the form of Creed's son.

However, "Creed" director Ryan Coogler said that he is betting on the movie to capture the original's underdog tone.

Coogler said that he based the story on his relationship with his ailing father, who he remembers as a Rocky fanatic.

And as reported by Screen Rant, The director also spoke about another movie, Marvel's "Black Panther," a movie with a black superhero.

Coogler is actually in the mix on who will direct this landmark film from Marvel.

When asked whether it's important that a black director takes the reigns of the movie, he said that he thinks it's important and said that perspective is important in art.

He said, "I definitely think that it helps when you are close to a subject. Like, I was an athlete for most of my life before I was a filmmaker. And that helped to inform me when writing this script, when directing. Having had those types of experiences helped me inform this process."

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