The cast for the planned biopic “Michael” about pop star Michael Jackson (“Thriller”) continues to grow. US actor Colman Domingo (54), who was nominated for an Oscar this week as the leading actor in “Rustin”, is said to play the controversial family patriarch Joe Jackson. “I’m thrilled,” Domingo wrote on Instagram, linking to industry reports about the cast.
Colman wrote in a statement that he considers himself lucky to portray such a complex, flawed character like Joe Jackson. He also raved about leading actor Jafaar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson and nephew of the “King of Pop,” who died in 2009. During rehearsals he saw his “incredible transformation”. “His talent and his embodiment of Michael’s essence is just on another level,” enthused Domingo.
First photo of the film project released
Jafaar Jackson published the first photo from the ongoing film project on Instagram last week. It shows him doing a dance move wearing a black hat like the one Jackson wore during his Victory Tour in 1984. The directorial project by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) is scheduled to hit cinemas in April 2025.
Joe Jackson died in 2018 at the age of 89. He had eleven children and founded the famous band “Jackson Five” in the 1960s. The father and manager was considered the driving force behind the success of the “King of Pop” and his siblings, but was also controversial for violence towards his children.
Domingo, known from the series “Euphoria” and films such as “If Beale Street Could Talk” or “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, played the black civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in “Rustin” (2023). With this role, he is nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor alongside stars like Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”) and Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”).
