Joseph Fiennes Playing Michael Jackson?

[superboy13]

Joseph Fiennes?

Please, Community solved this issue a good long while ago. Donald Glover and Gillian Jacobs as both versions of Michael Jackson:

 

[Kar]

I'm not losing my top over this, but its pretty dumb. I don't care what Michael looked like, he was a black man at the end of the day. It's really that simple. If they needed to use makeup, they could have used makeup. But to cast a white person to play him? Come on...

Everyone is saying because Michael looked white later on in life, its fine to cast a white guy. So I guess when we get a Sammy Sosa movie, it'll be ok to cast a white guy to play him in his later years? Or if a white person may have some Asian features or something, its cool for him to play Jackie Chan?

But like I said, I'm not losing my **** over it, just as long as a black man gets to play Elvis Presley.

 

[Warhammer]

I don't see how a person could not see the justification for why someone would be upset about this. Sit down for 5 minutes and think about it. With that said, I don't care. I won't watch it anyway.

 

[OctaviusINC]

An actor named Felix Alexander played MJ in a 2004 TV biopic. It wasn't a very good movie. But it shows they could pull off MJ's later look with a black actor.

I think the whole idea this movie is based on is extremely strange. And besides this casting choice I think when it's released nobody will care or remember and it'll slip right under the radar.

MJ is an African American but it was hard to see that physically especially at the end of his life. And whether Jackson specifically wanted a black actor to play him or not, I don't think ANY of the celebrities being portrayed in this film would want this movie to happen especially since it's arguable that it's even based on true events. Sounds like an SNL sketch.

It could also be that the crew were looking for a great actor to portray Michael Jackson. They may have auditioned a tons of black and white actors and this Joseph Fiennes guy just nailed it. I don't know. Maybe they casted the acting job based on acting.

TONS of Michael Jackson impersonators are not black. The most I've seen are white. And the people who pay to see them don't get up and leave when they find that out. Edward Moss (Who I believe is of Latino descent) played MJ in various television and movie projects. But he was also playing him during a time where MJ was seen as a joke and ridiculed for his appearance. So nobody cared.

 

[Sawyer]

I don't think the "Michael was white towards the end of his life" argument really works because ANY actor would need to wear a ton of makeup to look remotely like him. He was CHALK white, like the Joker. However, Michael was not actually a white man, and given how Hollywood (clearly) still has a major diversity problem, this casting really feels like a slap in the face to African Americans.

Hollywood doesn't apply when it's a British TV Movie.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Hollywood doesn't apply when it's a British TV Movie.

It's an even bigger issue there, at least according to Idris Elba. It why he started working in the States. Dude couldn't get any work otherwise.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, I'm not frustrated by this. Usually I would be but this just sound so ****ing insane given the premise it doesn't sound like the story will be taken that seriously. It's based on a supposed story with three ****ing weird ass people. It already sounds like a farce. If this were a drama then it's different. There's wiggle room for **** like this.

 

[Fincher]

Skin color isn't even the biggest hurdle when it comes to portraying Jackson at the time; facial features and voice are. They could always use makeup, so if they weren't going to go all the way and cast an actress with delicate features for verisimilitude, why not get a black guy?

 

[chamber-music]

It's an even bigger issue there, at least according to Idris Elba. It why he started working in the States. Dude couldn't get any work otherwise.

He got work. He struggled to get leading man roles in the UK. They only let a black dude be leading man on a show once he has had a certain level of success. It also doesn't help that British networks make way too much boring period dramas because that is the easy s*** to sell to foreign tv markets that want 'stereotypical' British stuff.

This TV film is going to be on Sky Arts. Hardly anyone watches here in the UK/Ireland. If this wasn't getting the publicity it is then only a few thousand middle class over forty year olds would of probably seen this film.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, this is a little English TV movie that probably won't make much of an impact anyway, besides how much this sounds like a ridiculous film. It's not setting back black actors. If this were a major film drama, like a Michael Jackson film (you'd think they would have made this by now, excluding the tv movie), then yes, the frustration is justifiable. But this is really nothing. It's easy to want to be on the right side of things and express injustice but sometimes with stuff like this... this just isn't a battle to pick.

 

[chamber-music]

People are make a big deal out of something hardly anyone would of seen.

Sky Arts primetime shows are watched by fewer than 10,000 viewers. The networks most popular shows, the Playhouse series, is watched by 100,000 viewers at the most.

Sky Arts is a highbrow arts channel that shows theatrical performances, Opera, music documentaries and so on. Most people remotely interested in that kind of stuff would rather watch it on BBC Four.

 

[Schlosser85]

Nobody had the skin color Michael Jackson did. He was literally white, like a sheet of paper.

Skin color aside, Joseph Fiennes looks nothing like MJ, and frankly, he's never shown the acting chops of his brother, and I have a hard time believing he's some amazing chameleonic character actor who can get away with this.

But I have no idea who would look like MJ anyway. His facial features would be hard to replicate, even with makeup, and his nose would practically have to be CGI like Voldemort.

 

[TheBat812]

Nobody had the skin color Michael Jackson did. He was literally white, like a sheet of paper.

Skin color aside, Joseph Fiennes looks nothing like MJ, and frankly, he's never shown the acting chops of his brother, and I have a hard time believing he's some amazing chameleonic character actor who can get away with this.

But I have no idea who would look like MJ anyway. His facial features would be hard to replicate, even with makeup, and his nose would practically have to be CGI like Voldemort.

Pretty much this. Weird casting choice for so many reasons. The race issue isn't even top among them.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I'm black and I'm fine with this. Let's be real, how Michael Jackson looked in later years was extremely different from his original ethnic features. Jackson looked closer to a white guy than a black guy (which may or may not of been intentional).

If they were casting for younger Jackson than I would of been in favor of a black actor.

He bleached his skin to make it look even. I have seen people with vitiligo bleach their skin, but not enough that you can still see the blotches. Probably why Michael went so white.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Hollywood doesn't apply when it's a British TV Movie.

I love when people complain about Hollywood for this, and don't even realize it is a British project.

Nobody had the skin color Michael Jackson did. He was literally white, like a sheet of paper.

Skin color aside, Joseph Fiennes looks nothing like MJ, and frankly, he's never shown the acting chops of his brother, and I have a hard time believing he's some amazing chameleonic character actor who can get away with this.

But I have no idea who would look like MJ anyway. His facial features would be hard to replicate, even with makeup, and his nose would practically have to be CGI like Voldemort.

They got the wrong brother.