Amid the controversy about the Oscars’ lack of diversity, the news of a white actor portraying Michael Jackson in a British dramedy didn’t sit well with a lot of people. How in the world did anyone cast a white guy to play the King of Pop, who was undeniably black, despite his vitiligo issues?
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Joseph Fiennes, the actor set to portray Jackson, made some interesting comments about being cast as the famed singer.
“I’m a white, middle-class guy from London … I’m as shocked as you may be,” Fiennes said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“[Jackson] definitely had an issue—a pigmentation issue—and that’s something I do believe,” he says. “He was probably closer to my color than his original color.”
So you’re a white man, cast as a black man—but you’re still willing to take on the role? I guess the money must be that good.
What many might not remember is that Jackson made it clear that he didn’t want a white man portraying him. In an interview with Oprah from 1993, Jackson spoke about rumors that involved a white kid portraying him in a commercial. Jackson made it clear that despite having vitiligo, he was a black man.
“It’s my face as a child in the commercial,” Jackson said. “Me when I was little. Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a black American. I’m a black American. I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. That’s like you [Oprah] wanting an Oriental person to play you as a child. Does that make sense?”
On Twitter, actor Orlando Jones made a good point about the planned movie, which many peole agreed with:
https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/692155486318280704https://twitter.com/ImAngelaBassett/status/692443908018667520
But we all know that isn’t going to happen.
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