Jaafar Jackson on Playing His Uncle in Michael: ‘I Had to Earn It’

Jaafar Jackson, the son of Jermaine Jackson, says he had to earn the role of his uncle in Michael. In his first television interview on TODAY, he said he had to prove to the filmmakers, himself and his family that he could pull it off.

A Calling He Did Not Plan

Jackson told Yahoo’s video interview he never dreamed of acting but knew the part was a calling. Producer Graham King looked at nearly 200 actors, per Extra. Complex reports Jackson drew on family game nights and Neverland visits from childhood.

The path he describes is unusual. Most actors who land a leading role in a major studio film have spent years auditioning, and Jackson is presented here as a newcomer who arrived at the part through a family connection and then had to justify it. The detail that nearly 200 actors were considered underlines the point he made on TODAY: being related to the subject did not settle the casting. It meant he had to demonstrate to the producers that he could carry the film.

Neverland, the California estate where Michael Jackson lived, appears in the coverage as a source of personal memory for the actor. Family game nights and visits to the property gave him private recollections of his uncle away from the stage, and Complex reports that he channeled them into the performance.

A Family Already Steeped in Music

Jaafar’s father, Jermaine Jackson, was a member of the Jackson 5 alongside Michael, so the actor grew up in a household where performing was part of family history. That background helps explain why he describes the role in terms of proving himself to his relatives as well as to the production. For him, the audience that mattered most included people who knew the subject personally, and their opinion carried a weight that critics and ticket buyers could not match.

Two Years of Preparation

He trained for two years with Rich + Tone Talauega, choreographers who toured with Michael Jackson starting in 1996, per Rolling Stone Philippines. Jackson says the film’s vocals blend his voice with his uncle’s recordings.

The choice of trainers matters because Michael Jackson’s stage movement is among the most recognizable in popular music, and it is difficult to reproduce convincingly. Working with choreographers who performed alongside him on tour gave the actor access to people who knew the movement from the inside. Two years is also a long preparation period for a film role, which indicates how much of the performance depended on physical detail rather than on acting alone.

The note about the vocals is equally revealing. By his own account, the singing in the film is a combination of his voice and recordings made by Michael Jackson, so audiences hear a blend rather than a pure imitation or a pure archive recording.

The People Around Him

Antoine Fuqua directed from a script by John Logan. Colman Domingo plays Joe Jackson and Nia Long plays Katherine.

Domingo and Long play the singer’s father and mother, which places the film’s family relationships alongside the music. For a first-time lead actor, being surrounded by experienced performers in those parts is part of the context in which his performance is judged.

The Numbers and the Reception

Michael opened April 24 with $97 million in North America, and The Grio reports it has passed $1 billion worldwide. Critics were mixed, with 39 percent on Rotten Tomatoes versus 97 percent from audiences. Lionsgate confirmed a sequel on May 21 and the film began streaming on Starz in August.

The distance between the two review scores is striking. A 58-point gap between critics and audiences is unusually large, and it describes a film that connected strongly with viewers even as professional reviewers were divided. The box office totals match the audience response more closely than the critical one, since a worldwide gross above $1 billion reflects very broad attendance.

The Film’s Timeline So Far

• April 24: theatrical opening in North America
• May 21: Lionsgate confirms a sequel
• August: streaming begins on Starz

What the Sequel Means for Him

With a sequel confirmed, Jackson’s first screen role may turn out to be the start of a longer commitment to the character. The sources used here do not say whether he will return, and no details about the sequel’s story, cast or schedule are provided. For now, the available picture is of an actor who has moved from first-time performer to the center of one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and who describes the experience in terms of earning trust from the filmmakers, from himself and from his family.

The streaming release on Starz in August also extends the film’s reach beyond theaters, giving viewers who missed it on the big screen a way to judge the performance for themselves. Because the audience and critic responses differ so sharply, home viewing may continue to shape how the film, and Jackson’s first lead performance, is remembered in the months ahead.