Joseph Fiennes regrets agreeing to play Michael Jackson: 'A wrong decision'
Joseph Fiennes regrets his decision to take on the role of Michael Jackson in a television episode that was pulled before it aired in full.
The "Shakespeare in Love" actor told The Guardian that it was a "bad mistake" to agree in 2016 to play the pop icon in an episode of British biographical series "Urban Myths" alongside Brian Cox as Marlon Brando and Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor.
"I think people are absolutely right to be upset," Fiennes said in the interview published Sunday. "And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely. And I’m one part of that – there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions. But obviously if I’m upfront, I have become the voice for other people. I would love them to be around the table as well to talk about it. But you know, it came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call."
His casting prompted criticism of whitewashing with the trailer sparking additional concern from viewers, plus Jackson's own family.
After the trailer was released in 2017, Jackson's daughter, Paris, expressed her strong opposition to the project on Twitter. "I'm so incredibly offended by it, as I'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.
Michael Jackson's nephew, Taj Jackson, also protested Fiennes' casting on Twitter at the time. "Unfortunately, this is what my family has to deal with. No words could express the blatant disrespect."
Fiennes acknowledged that the decision that he portray Jackson, who died in 2009, might be criticized — but he told Entertainment Tonight in 2016 he didn't think his race as a white actor should make a difference.
"(Jackson) definitely had an issue – a pigmentation issue – and that's something I do believe," Fiennes said. "He was probably closer to my color than his original color."
Fiennes told The Guardian in the recent interview that he asked the broadcaster to pull the episode before it aired in full. "There were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice."
The broadcaster said in 2017 it decided not to air the episode "in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson's immediate family." It noted Fiennes supported the decision.
The King of Pop: We may never resolve our conflicted feelings about Michael Jackson
In a 1993 TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson shared his feelings about potentially being played by a white actor, after stories circulated that a Caucasian child would play him in a Pepsi commercial.
"That's the most ridiculous, horrifying story I've ever heard," he responded. "It's crazy. Why would I want a white child to play me? I'm a Black American. I am proud to be a Black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am.”
The episode, titled "Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon," was meant to center on a supposed road trip Jackson took with Taylor and Brando while fleeing post-9/11 New York. With all civilian air travel grounded, they set off in a rental car together, "reflecting on their lives, loves, careers and egos as they go."
Contributing: Cara Kelly, Maeve McDermott