Jonathan Majors is the new talk of the town. But for all the wrong reasons. The once-beloved ‘He Who Remains’ is definitely going to stay under constant scrutiny after his arrest on domestic abuse charges in March.
Now, the Internet is exploring how the actor who appears as this big, masculine emotional guy has faced trouble in his teen years with violence and getting suspended from multiple schools.
Moments after the news of his arrest broke out, several actors and directors he has previously worked with on Broadway pinpointed traces of violent-sociopathic behavior evident throughout his life behind the curtains. And to top it all off, community forums managed to dig out interviews where the ‘Lovecraft Country’ star spoke candidly about his past life in a working-class household.
A Faulty Foundation
Back in February, Jonathan Majors sat down in an interview with Entertainment Weekly to discuss his journey to create a complex antagonist for his role in the MCU and Creed Universe. Majors also wrote an essay for Variety highlighting how his portrayal of good and evil stemmed from each step of his life growing up.
Majors spent his foundation years in that grey area where a clear understanding of right and wrong comes out as rather blurry. His experience growing up around drug dealers, killers, murderers, and people coming out of jail, left a significant impact on his psyche.
Soon, the duality of his peers took over him, and he found himself shoplifting and fighting in high school. He even got arrested for shoplifting and later got kicked out of his home, living in his car and working two jobs to make ends meet.
As per Majors, his mother was “really good at keeping us safe,” and somehow, that comfort led him to get bullied, physical altercations, and at last, acts of retaliation. He also opened up about why his mother drove him out of the household. At 17, he got into a “domestic” confrontation with his stepfather.
Years Before Hollywood
Majors found his one true love in acting. He graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and earned his MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Majors knew that breaking into Hollywood would be tough, but his need to connect and become a part of a bigger world drove him forward. But here’s where the story takes a downturn.
His reputation at Yale soon became that of a sociopath and menace to those around him. Broadway actor and Society Theater co-founder Tim Nicolai was the first to comment on Majors’ violent actions throughout his time at Yale. On Majors’ arrest in March, Tim stated:
“It’s a shame it took this long for him to be reported. I’m already seeing a bunch of ‘why didn’t you do anything?!’ Folks, people have tried. Ultimately needed a victim to come forward. It’s both simultaneously awful to know he is still doing this and also a relief that he may never get to again.”
Apart from Tim, filmmaker A.B. Allen also tweeted about a new actor who was getting drooled over by the fans on the Internet but was actually nothing more than a “vicious, cruel, and abusive human being.“
In a now-deleted Tweet, Allen wrote:
“There’s a particular actor, relatively new on the scene, who Twitter has violently fallen head over heels for who, in actuality, is a vicious, cruel, abusive human being, both professionally and in his personal life, and every new viral thirst tweet about him drives me insane.”
The filmmaker told the people that he didn’t want the victims to become a part of a larger media inquiry unless they came out to expose the truth on the matter. That was the reason why he stayed silent before the news came out.
He Who Remains: Innocent or Guilty?
Majors’ arrest quickly earned him a spot in the headlines, where the Internet took the matter a little more personally. While some fans refused to admit something like that could happen.
Some noticed a pattern!
However, Majors’ defense Attorney Priya Chaudhry held her stance firmly, claiming that the actor was innocent on all grounds and the victim (believed to be his girlfriend) had taken the blame for igniting a fight that led to the altercation.
A series of texts between Majors and the victim were released to the press by Chaudhry:
“Will make sure nothing happens about this. I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone. I only just got out of the hospital. Just call me when you’re out. I love you.”
Although Majors and his attorney believe they came up with a silver lining, the public hasn’t gotten along with the texts alone as something to build a reliable defense argument on. Lastly, the public and Majors would have to wait for the final verdict, that’s expected to come out on May 8.
Marvel Studios and the rest of Hollywood are yet to make a statement. But professionally, Majors has lost some valuable connections he made on his road to stardom.
Jonathon Majors, talent manager at Entertainment 360, recently announced that they have dropped Majors due to “issues of the actor’s personal behaviour.” As per media reports, he also lost his ad campaign gig with Texas Rangers. Majors won’t be attending this year’s Met Gala event as per a mutual decision between the actor and the fashion house Valentino.
A ‘Major’ Fall From Grace
Jonathon Majors is currently facing criminal charges after being sued by the Manhattan district attorney. Consequently, more women have come forward with abuse allegations against the actor and are now cooperating with the D.A.’s office.
Several reports also state that Majors has decided to step down from the board of the Gotham Film and Media Institute and his work with the ‘Sidney Poitier Initiative,’ to support emerging filmmakers.
Majors wouldn’t be seen in Protagonist Pictures’ “The Man in My Basement” as the production house seems hesitant to move forward with him on their upcoming feature adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel, “The Man in My Basement.” Similar to Marvel, Lionsgate is also waiting for the court hearing before making any possible casting decisions on Majors playing the role of NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman in the movie “48 Hours in Vegas.”
Majors was last seen in ‘Creed III’ opposite Michael B Jordan and in MCU’s ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.’ Both films garnered around $745 million at the global box office.
His latest work, Ant-Man, and The Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III, are available in your nearest theatres.
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