The star of That Awkward Moment has used his 'go-getting mentality' to graduate from teen sitcom bit-parts to adult movie roles. He's even acclaimed as one of the 30 under-30s who is changing the world

"Women still want the old-fashioned love story, but it's 2014, and things are a little different now," says Michael B Jordan, authoritatively. "Thanks to Facebook, you can pretty much do a full background check on somebody before you even meet them, and with Tinder, you're constantly window-shopping." He waves his iPhone in my direction before placing it firmly facedown on the coffee table. "I think that changes the way we approach and interact with women. But our [by which, I think he means women's] idea of what love and relationships should be hasn't updated to keep up with the times."

The 26-year-old's latest film is Hollywood's attempt to help do so. That Awkward Moment is billed as a male-view romcom, with Jordan, Zac Efron and Miles Teller playing three pals dating girls in New York. Efron and Teller's characters bed-hop, pop Viagra and plank (see film for details), date and dump with abandon, offering an unusually honest, if depressing, peek into the sexual psyche of the twentysomething male. But Jordan's character, Mikey, is the foil, a conscientious, lovable, married doctor, now cuckolded and facing a divorce. "He's the guy that really wants to make a relationship work, even though he and his wife are not really in love any more," says Jordan. He is also the only one of the trio not to bare his bottom.

Jordan's love life is a little different. "I didn't even have a proper girlfriend until about a year ago," he says. "I was pretty emotionally unavailable, and just focused on what I needed to be focused on. Acting is very much a solo mission. But I was always brutally honest with females. I made it clear that I didn't have the time to really give a woman what she would need, beyond hanging out and …" – he waves his right hand in the air, looks a little coy – "you know …" (He's currently single once more, by the way.)

That Awkward Moment is a dramatic change of tempo for Jordan, who rose to fame as Wallace, the teen drug dealer in The Wire, and who starred last year in Sundance winner Fruitvale Station. That film told the real-life story of an unarmed 22-year-old shot dead at Fruitvale railway station in Oakland, California, after reports of a fight aboard a train in the early hours of New Year's Day, 2009. The film's writer-director, Ryan Coogler, wrote the part specifically for Jordan; turning it down wasn't an option. "As an African-American man, I felt a responsibility to play this, and to tell that story; I had to," he says. It worked out: the quietly emotional performance won him a clutch of accolades, including being named by Time magazine one of the 30 people under 30 changing the world. He also comes in – at No 80 – on a list of TV's sexiest men. Indeed, there are entire Buzzfeed articles dedicated to Jordan's grin, his wink, his dimples and his torso – shortly to become even more impressive as his next big role is in a Rocky spinoff.

Jordan was born and raised 10 miles away, in Newark, New Jersey, and "one of the worst places in the country. I have seen people lose their lives before, and it's a shame that I can say that without flinching," he shrugs. "And it could have been me; I could easily have been a statistic. A few different decisions and who knows what my life could have been?" .

What stopped him veering off the track? "Family. Mum, Dad, the fact that they are still together." He spoons honey into his tea, then, too late, notices it's gone cold.

As a child, Jordan harboured dreams of basketball stardom in the NBA. "Every kid dreams of that, I'm sure, but I was really good," he says, matter-of-factly. He began modelling for a local sports store, then Toys R Us, then, at 12, landed a small but recurring role in a Bill Cosby version of One Foot in the Grave before, at just 15, landing the small but pivotal role of Wallace in The Wire. He used his hometown experiences as background research. "I lived in an area where there were lots of drug dealers and I knew some people who may or may not have sold drugs," he says diplomatically. He was in the show's first season, and it served as a de facto drama school. "I was everybody's little brother, and I got to learn from Idris Elba, Dominic West, Michael K Williams, Wendell Pearce, Wood Harris … the list goes on. There were so many phenomenal actors there, and I picked up tools from them that I still use every day that I am on set."

He moved on to the soapy series All My Chidren, in which he played another troubled teen, followed by a quarterback in much-loved series Friday Night Lights.

Along with his co-star in That Awkward Moment, Efron, Jordan has successfully negotiated the transition from child and teen to adult roles. "I wasn't a child star, I was a child actor, and I think that's a big difference," he says. "Nobody knew who I was, so I was able to grow and learn without me being on anybody's radar."

He relocated, alone, to Hollywood seven years ago. "LA is what you make it. It's a land of opportunity, and my business is there, but I'm an east coast dude at heart. Coming from this city – and these winters" – he tips his head towards the window and the whiteout beyond – "it just gives you another layer of character, a go-get-it kind of mentality. You're a hustler. It's a different grind here in New York, and I am so thankful that I was raised here. And I can take that grit with me wherever I go."

• This article was amended on 30 Jan 2014 to remove an assertion that Jordan was in five seasons of The Wire