Ben Affleck Tells Michael B. Jordan Their Friendship Means ‘More Than You Know’

Michael B. Jordan received an evening of tributes from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

The actor-director, 38, was honored at the 39th American Cinematheque Awards ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Sinners director Ryan Coogler, a frequent collaborator of Jordan’s, honored Jordan at the event, as did his Creed costar Tessa Thompson, his Fruitvale Station onscreen mom Octavia Spencer, friend Bradley Cooper, Phylicia Rashad, Daniel Kaluuya and more. Tom Cruise and Angela Bassett also shared video messages celebrating Jordan.

During the night, Ben Affleck took to the podium, praising his friendship with Jordan as a highlight of his Hollywood career.

“It is a genuine honor and a personal joy to be here tonight to help celebrate an actor, director, a human being who I’ve been a fan and a friend of for a long time now, in a very worthy 2025 award ceremony,” said Affleck, 53.

Affleck said when he saw Jordan’s true-story drama Fruitvale Station back in 2013, he was “blown away by that incredible performance, and I rank it as a life-changing movie I will never forget seeing.”

“I immediately thought, ‘My God, this guy is a huge movie star,’ and I couldn’t shake it,” recalled Affleck. “I remember thinking and remembering that when I broke into the business, if I hadn’t had a friend who I trust, who I could talk to and could kind of relate to, to how crazy the world seemed overnight, I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“So,” he continued, “I took a shot, and I reached out to Michael.”

Affleck said he told Jordan back then that he’s “got a giant career ahead of him” and “I would be honored if he would want to sit down and talk to me sometime.”

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“I told him that the only deal was I would never ask him for anything. I would never repeat anything he told me. I would always tell him the truth,” Affleck said. “Luckily, he called me. From time to time, we talk. In retrospect, it’s clear to me those conversations were much more valuable to me than they were to him.”

Affleck said he was excited to gain a “front-row seat to a young man with enormous talent,” saying of Jordan, “I got to watch him navigate this world with grace and aplomb, and it’s been one of the great joys of my career.”

Affleck commended Jordan for his “profound goodness” and “amazing work ethic,” plus his “fundamental decency, and his warm stride to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals is all his.”

“It has been a tremendous pleasure,” said Affleck, “and honor to watch Michael’s success story unfold, share some of his journey as he’s become not just one of our best and most exciting actors, but also as he’s established himself as an extraordinary director, producer, powerhouse on the screen.”

Concluding his speech, Affleck told Jordan, “Your friendship has meant an enormous amount to me, probably more than you know, and it has been truly one of the great, great, wonderful gifts that this opportunity here has given me. I tip my hat to you. I respect you. I admire you. You deserve all this. Congratulations.”

In 2023, Affleck and Jordan sat down for Variety‘s “Directors on Directors” series, when Jordan recalled words of wisdom from Affleck and Matt Damon.

“Fruitvale Station had premiered at Sundance, and I remember you and Matt were basically like, ‘Mike, your life is getting ready to change.’ From there, it was just like a big brother/little brother kind of relationship. That meant a lot, man,” said Jordan.