Jaafar Jackson’s journey to portray his uncle, Michael Jackson, in the King of Pop’s biopic
Work on the production began several years ago and the movie covers the career of the legendary artist, omitting the darker episodes of his private life, such as accusations of child sexual abuse
Jaafar Jackson (Los Angeles, 29 years old) was just weeks away from turning 13 when the death of his uncle Michael shocked the world and left millions of fans devastated. He, like many other young people, was fascinated by the singer’s music videos and his mesmerizing dance moves. However, he had never considered following in his footsteps. His teenage obsession was playing golf and becoming a professional someday, but the weight of his last name was too powerful, and destiny took over when he made his way in the music world as a songwriter and dancer. That’s what he was doing until producer Graham King (Bohemian Rhapsody) called him. King had acquired the rights to tell Michael Jackson’s story and wanted to audition his nephew Jaafar for the lead role in Michael, the biopic. There was just one problem: Jaafar Jackson had never acted before.
As Jaafar himself recently revealed on Jimmy Fallon’s show, he spent months preparing for the role even before auditioning. For two years, he worked with an acting coach and dedicated long hours to practicing his uncle’s iconic choreography. When he landed the part, the challenge was so great that Jackson didn’t even tell his family about the project: “No one in my family knew for a full year. I kept it pretty quiet until I felt comfortable enough to share it,” he revealed in an interview published on April 6 by his co-star Miles Teller for Interview magazine.
Besides Teller, the cast of Michael also includes Colman Domingo, Nia Long, and Laura Harrier. The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, will hit theaters on April 24, several years after the project first began. In fact, Jaafar Jackson announced his casting as the lead in Michael on January 30, 2023, over three years ago. He shared the news in a brief post on his Instagram profile, where he has 598,000 followers (that image is the first on his feed, which is focused exclusively on promoting the film): “I’m humbled and honored to bring my Uncle Michael’s story to life. To all the fans all over the world, I’ll see you soon,” he wrote alongside a black and white photograph of himself in one of the King of Pop’s most iconic poses. The photo, incidentally, was taken by Jourdynn Jackson, one of Jaafar’s brothers.
Family was the cornerstone of Michael Jackson’s life. He began his career as a child as a member of the famous Jackson 5, the band founded by his father, Joseph Jackson, which also included his older brothers: Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and Jermaine. Jaafar Jackson is the son of Jermaine and Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza, who had two children from a previous relationship with his brother, Randy Jackson. Therefore, Jaafar has several half-siblings on his mother’s side who are also his cousins. Jaafar has spoken about the large Jackson family in interviews. “I don’t know the exact number, because there’s new babies every year. I think it’s around 35 to 40 cousins. And I have nine brothers and two sisters,” he said in Interview. Among those cousins are Michael’s own children: Paris, Prince, and Blanket Jackson. The presence of Prince and Blanket at the Berlin premiere of the film a few days ago demonstrates that the family closest to the late artist seems to have given their approval to what is the most ambitious biopic ever made about the King of Pop. One person who might not be so keen on the project is Janet Jackson, who, according to Variety a few weeks ago, citing sources close to the film, will not appear in it.
Access to Michael Jackson’s personal archive
After several years of preparation, filming began with a bang: on the first day of production, Jaafar Jackson had to film the music video sequence for Bad, originally directed by Martin Scorsese. The 1987 track is from the album of the same name, the singer’s seventh studio album and the follow-up to the success of Thriller. Two choreographers who had worked with Michael Jackson at different points in his career, Rich and Tone Talauega, assisted with the film. Oscar-winning makeup artist Bill Corso was responsible for transforming Jaafar into Michael. “It was a surreal and very spiritual moment at the same time,” the actor said about seeing himself transformed into his uncle for the first time. The music video for Thriller, the singer’s most memorable and arguably the most influential in music history, also features prominently in the film. During the promotion of the movie, the actor said that they managed to film in the exact same place where the original video was shot.
Despite being his nephew, Jaafar didn’t have a very close relationship with his uncle, who only visited them at the family home occasionally, as he recently explained on The Today Show. Therefore, accessing part of his uncle’s personal archive, with its texts, poems, and reflections, allowed him, he says, to better understand Michael Jackson: “Accessing Michael’s personal writings helped me a lot. His texts, poems, mantras, and affirmations; it was a turning point for me. I started doing the same thing, putting affirmations on walls and mirrors. I started with the voice, then with the gestures and movements,” he recounted about the process of preparing for the role. To get even more into character, the actor recounted during the Berlin premiere that he spent time sleeping on the floor of the family home in Hayvenhurst, the Californian residence where the King of Pop lived until he was almost 30 years old, before moving to his famous Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara.
The elephant in the room
Michael Jackson left behind an unparalleled musical legacy, but also a biography steeped in darkness, with accusations of child sexual abuse (depicted in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland). This aspect is not addressed in the biopic, and due to it, the film has not received the same level of promotion as other projects of this kind.
As reported by Variety, the story was initially going to begin in 1993 in medias res, with investigators arriving at Neverland following the first child abuse allegations against the artist. The idea was to depict how these accusations affected Michael. However, according to the same publication, the family’s lawyer (who is also a producer on the film) insisted that this be excluded after discovering a clause in an agreement with one of Jackson’s accusers, which prohibited any depiction or mention of him in any film. The truth is that, since the project began to take shape, information has trickled out, and only in the days leading up to the premiere has Jaafar Jackson been seen giving interviews, although so far no one has asked him about this aspect of Michael Jackson’s private life. Perhaps that’s also why, to avoid awkward questions, the production has conducted a discreet promotion.
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