Michael Jai White and Gillian White can be seen in the upcoming Trouble Man, a film starring Michael as a former cop turned Atlanta PI on the search for a missing singer. The actor is also behind the camera as the director and co-writer in the action film.

“You know, even for my peer groups and my family, it’s always like, and my wife can attest because she’s the same way, we’re just good problem solvers,” Michael tells Nerd Reactor about being a director. “When you’ve hired a bunch of people who are really good at their job, it becomes easy, you know? The deck is stacked in your favor. You have a bunch of problem solvers who enjoy solving problems.”

Michael and Gillian are married in real life, and they bring their romance into the film as two former lovers crossing paths.

“In this movie, we are once lovers who lost each other and came back together,” Michael said. “And one of the things that clinched Gillian and me coming back together is something I say in the movie. It was something like, ‘I lost you once, I’m not gonna be stupid enough to lose you again.’ But that came out in real life.”

“Yeah, that’s a real-life statement,” Gillian added.

There’s a scene in Trouble Man where Michael and Gillian fight each other.

“Well, we work out all the time,” Gillian says of their training. “We’re always sparring against each other, just like in the gym and at home. So it’s just putting it on the screen. You know, we’re in that element. It’s a lot of moving pieces. You got the lighting, you got the DP, you got everything’s going on. So it’s just that moment for me. I have to just kind of focus on ‘let’s get this going,’ because time is always of the essence when you’re filming. You don’t have too much slack. You’ve got to kind of knock it out.”

About Trouble Man

Synopsis: Jaxen, a former cop turned Atlanta PI, is hired to find missing R&B star Jahari. His investigation uncovers her disappearance is connected to a larger conspiracy, forcing him to question those around him and his own past.

The film is directed by Michael Jai White and written by Michael Stradford and White. White and Craig Baumgarten serve as the producers.

The film stars Michael Jai White, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Orlando Jones, Gillian White, Levy Tran, Mike Epps and Alani “La La” Anthony.

Trouble Man will be in theaters and on digital on August 1, 2025.