Source: Robin L Marshall / Getty
It appears that once-hot actor Jonathan Majors has found a path back to the big screen. This week it was announced that he’ll star in a new thriller Merciless from director Martin Villeneuve, the younger brother of Dune Part 2 director Denis Villeneuve.
Major was convicted earlier this year of misdemeanor third-degree assault and harassment of his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, despite calling 911 on her and with video of the incident showing him running from her through the streets of New York City. It stemmed from an altercation in 2023, when the former couple were in an Uber and Jabbari says Majors fractured her finger and hit her as he attempted to retrieve his phone.
In March of this year, after the assault case was settled, Jabbari sued Majors for assault, battery, defamation and infliction of emotional distress. She alleges that his abuse has been ongoing throughout their two-year relationship and that she initially kept quiet so that his career wouldn’t be impacted. The civil case has not yet been resolved, but Majors was ordered to complete a year of in-person domestic violence counseling and mental health counseling.
Majors’ career was on the upswing after his roles in Creed III and The Harder They Fall. He’d been named as Kang The Conquerer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after appearing in both Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, and was the star of the well-reviewed festival fave Magazine Dreams. But after the conviction he was dropped by Marvel and Magazine Dreams was shelved.
Since his breakup with Jabbari, Majors has been dating Harlem actress Meagan Good who publicly supported him through the assault trial.
Merciless is described as a movie about a CIA interrogator whose woman is taken over by an evil spirit. It’s scheduled to begin filming in Canada this fall. “Merciless intertwines themes of possession, revenge and personal justice within a haunting narrative. It explores the psychological descent of John, played by Majors, and the supernatural forces challenging his sanity,” Villeneuve said in a statement.
If you’re wondering who gave Majors a second chance, look no further than Merciless producer Christopher Tuffin, who was behind Sound of Freedom, a controversial movie about a federal agent who rescues children from sex trafficking in Latin America, loosely based on a true story. Sound of Freedom reportedly made $400M last summer.
“In graduate school, I had the good fortune to study screenwriting under Blacklist scribe Millard Lampell and learned from him the dangers of letting politics undermine due process and deprive artists of their careers,” Tuffin said. “I consider it an honor and a privilege to be working with Jonathan who is such a great talent now that this matter has been adjudicated.”
Majors reflected on the controversy while tearfully accepting the Perseverance Award from Hollywood Unlocked. Iyanla Vanzant presented him with the award.
He told the audience, “Perseverance means what? Perseverance means persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay. And the God I serve has put me in a position where I’ve had to embody that word more than I wished or wanted.”
He added, “We live in a world where men, Black men in particular, are propped up as either superheroes or supervillains. But I’ve come to realize, me, personally, I ain’t none of that. … I’m just that guy whose faith has been tested. It has been strengthened by this testimony.”
