Awards Circuit Podcast: Also, what's it like to grow up in one of the most famous families in the world? Two years before a frame of “Michael” was shot, Jaafar Jackson wrote down a list of goals. One was to beat “Bohemian Rhapsody” and cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Antoine Fuqua’s film, which opened April 24, became the first biopic in history to surpass $1 billion worldwide and Lionsgate’s biggest release ever. It also made a star of Jackson, who had never acted professionally before. Jackson, 30, is sitting down with Variety just two days after wrapping his second film, “Supermax,” opposite Will Smith, following 40 days of shooting in Australia.
He’s candid about the life that led him here. Growing up in a house filled with 30 or 40 relatives every holiday, he dreamed of becoming a golfer, not a performer. He didn’t fully grasp the weight of his last name until he was about six, watching his father and uncles take the stage as the Jackson 5 at a reunion concert in New York and hearing the crowd erupt.
He has fond memories of his family, especially his late uncle. One of his earliest recollections of Michael is asking him for Starbursts — specifically the pink and red ones, his favorite flavors. Bringing Michael to life, however, took two years of preparation before Jackson officially landed the role: building his own archive of songs, demos, journals, rehearsals and performances; working with acting coach Angela Gibbs; and immersing himself in the techniques of Stanislavski, Meisner and Uta Hagen.
Nailing his signature voice and tone came first. After the young Jackson sent producer Graham King an unsolicited voice note speaking as Michael, he had a coach the next day. The hardest part came with learning his signature movies, particularly when performing the footwork for “Bad,” which is what closes out the film.
But what does it mean to reenact your own family’s history? Colman Domingo plays a grandfather who, Jackson says, was gentler with him than with his father, Jermaine. Nia Long, who plays his grandmother Katherine, would touch his hand in certain scenes the way his grandmother did in real life.
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