LOS ANGELES • Hit superhero movie Black Panther (2018) actor Michael B. Jordan was named People magazine's "sexiest man alive" on Tuesday, the third black actor in a row to be so feted.

Jordan, 33, said the title gave him "a cool feeling".

"It's a good club to be part of," he told the magazine.

He began his career as a child actor in television shows such as All My Children (1970 to 2011) and rose steadily through the ranks in Hollywood until a breakout performance in the 2013 social justice drama Fruitvale Station. In 2015, he starred in the Rocky (1976) boxing sequel Creed and, three years later, he played villain Erik Killmonger opposite the late Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther.

The announcement was made on the talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Jordan follows singer John Legend and British actor Idris Elba, who were named "sexiest man alive" last year and 2018 respectively.

Jordan appears on the cover of the People magazine double issue appearing on newsstands tomorrow.

He has been vocal in calling for greater diversity in Hollywood. His production company in 2018 was the first to publicly adopt inclusion riders, which stipulate that a film employs a diverse cast and crew.

Earlier this year, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice, he teamed up with non-profit organisation Colour of Change and launched an initiative outlining concrete ways in which Hollywood could invest in black stories and anti-racist content.

The bachelor said the women in his family are proud of his accolade.

"When my grandmother was alive, it was something that she collected, and then my mum naturally reads it a lot and my aunts as well.

"This is one that they're definitely going to have a special place for," he told People magazine.

REUTERS