Jaafar Jackson studied 'a library of footage' for Michael
Jaafar Jackson has revealed how he prepared to star in Michael, the biographical film.
Jaafar Jackson studied a "library of footage" in preparation for Michael.
The 30-year-old actor played Michael Jackson, his real-life uncle, in the record-breaking biographical film, and Jaafar has shared details of his preparation for the role.
The film star - who had never acted before taking on the role - told Variety: "It started with dissecting and creating a library of footage of Michael. A library of all his songs, demos, writings and journaling, performances and rehearsals. I immersed myself in that every day.
"It became a full-time job, while I also worked on acting with Angela Gibbs, my head coach, who steered me in the right direction, put me in acting classes and brought in other coaches.
"I read books on classic teachers like Stanislavski, Meisner and Uta Hagen and studied different approaches, because there are many tools you can use, but they don’t work for every actor. I researched different ways to approach a scene, picked my favorites and then developed new ones that might work for Michael, like the dancing."
Jaafar explained that he spent years preparing for the role.
He said: "It was a full immersion, a process that took about two years until I actually knew I had the role. Then it was a different energy and confidence, knowing I had it."
Jaafar starred in the movie alongside Nia Long, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Laura Harrier, Jessica Sula, Mike Myers, Miles Teller, and Colman Domingo.
And the actor explained that he learned a lot from working with Colman.
He shared: "It was eye-opening to act alongside Colman, then see him as my grandfather and have that full-circle moment. It was so seamless.
"He’d arrive on set, I’d arrive and we’d get right into it. No rehearsals. I loved that, because we discovered things with every new take and Antoine [Fuqua, the director] would guide it or let us play.
"I grew up with a different side of my grandfather, a softer side. He was strict here and there. If you didn’t put your dishes away, he’d make sure you did or finish all your cereal.
"But the grandfather my father grew up with was more strict and disciplinary and wanted to keep them together as a group. It was a different time, growing up in the ’60s and parents disciplined their kids differently. Seeing how Colman channelled that, telling so much through his stillness, his eyes and the tone of his voice, was amazing to witness."
