MICHAEL R, JORDAN WANTS TO SLOW DOWN (BUT NOT RIGHT NOW)

The Sinners star once told GQ he intended to spend his 20s doing pedal-to-the-floor work, then reevaluate. But at 38, he's still seeking out new challenges-and pushing that deadline further into the future. FRAZIER THARPE rides shotgun in Jordan's Ferrari to find out what keeps him moving so fast.

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MICHAEL B. JORDAN had grand plans for the setting of this interview, at least at first. Fishing. Go-karting, maybe. (His team even suggested archery, an idea he seems hilariously bemused by when I reference it later.) But those were the inclinations of a Mike who thought he'd have more free time. The Mike before me this weekend is in go mode, so much so that on each of the three days we cross paths, he's in the same economical uniform: black hoodie, black sweats or jeans. He's in the busy beginning stages of making a movie-his second directorial effort; more on that later-and go-karts will have to wait. Today he's opted instead for a late brunch at Granville, a restaurant not far from his home.

Is he a regular then, I ask? Not quite. "This is my first time physically being in here," Jordan says, complimenting the vibe as he takes in the surroundings. "I order from here all the time." This is, as I've come to understand, very typical MBJ.

Why go somewhere when you can just order in? Why pop out and break a veneer of privacy that gets harder to maintain with each number one box office blockbuster he notches? It's an unseasonably warm December afternoon in Studio City. Jordan has been this busy all year-as an actor, and as a burgeoning producer-director, but also with the non-film-related projects to which he's applying more and more of his seemingly limitless attention and focus these days. "I think part of the goal," he explains, "is to get to a place where my life or anything around it doesn't change if I all of a sudden decide I may not want to work this year, or the year after that. I might want to spend time doing other things."