- 5 weeks ago
Michael star—and nephew to the ‘King of Pop’ himself—Jaafar Jackson breaks down everything he did to become Michael Jackson. The American actor talks through every step of his journey towards becoming Michael: from practicing Michael Jackson’s iconic moves at Hayvenhurst to learning how Michael would use his costume during a dance.Credits:Director: Kristen DeVoreDirector of Photography: Grant BellEditor: Phil CeconiTalent: Jaafar JacksonProducer: Sam DennisLine Producer: Jen SantosProduction Manager: Evie RoopTalent Booker: Lauren MendozaCamera Operator: Nick MasseySound Mixer: Kari BarberProduction Assistant: Fernando Barajas; Hollie OrtizPost Production Supervisor: Jess DunnPost Production Coordinator: Stella ShortinoSupervising Editor: Rob LombardiAssistant Editor: Andy MorellGlobal Head of Video: Leo FernandezExecutive Producer: Cara MarceanteDirector, Creative: Nick CollettDirector, Programming: Jeremy Clowney
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi GQ, I'm Jafar Jackson and I'm here to talk about how I prepared for the role of Michael Jackson.
00:17I believe that music, we can change the world.
00:20I first heard about this project, I believe I was online and I saw an article that Graham King got
00:26the rights to tell the Michael Jackson story.
00:28That was the first time I heard of any news regarding the Michael biopic.
00:33At that time I was creating music, I was producing a lot, so I didn't have any thoughts of, oh
00:40let me play him.
00:41It was more so, that's going to be interesting, I wonder where they're going to take that.
00:45I got a call from Graham King, he asked if I ever acted before and I told him no.
00:52I've never acted, I never wanted to, but I'm a big fan of films and I more so want to
00:57do film scores.
00:58One thing led to the other, next thing we're having lunch in person and he's telling me about the story
01:04of how he wants to tell Michael's story.
01:06And at this time there was no studio attached, there was no director attached.
01:10It was very early on, the script wasn't ready yet.
01:13He asked, would you be open to acting or if I got you with a coach, would you be willing
01:18to try it?
01:18You might hate it, you might love it.
01:20I was like, I need to really think about it before just diving into it.
01:23I'm someone who really wants to pull something, I don't want to just try it just for fun.
01:28If I go into it, I really want to commit to it.
01:30So I told him, let me think about it for a couple of days.
01:32I didn't really hear back for some time.
01:35So I said, you know what, I'm just going to text him a voice note of me speaking as Michael
01:40to the best of my ability at that time.
01:41And also singing a song or two.
01:43I sang a Peter Pan song that Michael, he never sang it officially, but it was more so off the
01:50record.
01:51I sang it like a lullaby to him and also just speaking to him in Michael's speaking voice.
01:57And he called me right away and said, I'm getting you a coach tomorrow.
02:01And that was the starting point of when I really started to try out acting.
02:06It was about two years.
02:07Because the first year I was really just working with Angela Gibbs, the coach, on other scenes from films, plays.
02:14And then eight months in, we started to work on specific scenes from the script Michael.
02:19And everything was recorded so Graham can see my progression.
02:23And then a year and a couple of months in, that's when I started working with Rich and Tone,
02:26the choreographers that were on the history tour with Michael.
02:29So it was like a continuation of many moments.
02:33It wasn't just one audition.
02:34There was many different moments I had to really show up and pull off the performance,
02:39whether it was a dance, singing a song or a scene.
02:43I would say close to two years in, they told me they're going to do a worldwide casting.
02:48And that put even more fire inside of me to want to work even harder, double the hours I was
02:53already putting in.
02:54And so I had the time to really do that.
02:58And having Havenhurst, which is the home in Encina where Michael lived and where I actually grew up,
03:03I went back there and set up a training camp, a way to have a place to really work as
03:09long as I want, as hard as I want, as free as I want.
03:12That was a turning point for me to have that space to be able to do that.
03:16Having my grandmother really tell me how proud she was and just hug me and say how excellent I was
03:23doing.
03:24That's all I needed to hear to really give me the confidence to pursue and continue to put in the
03:31hours and really, really work towards what I wanted to achieve.
03:34Her opinion really was all I needed to hear. That's really all I wanted to hear.
03:41I just have all these ideas in my head. I just got to get them out.
03:45To emulate, for me it all started with the foundation.
03:49So I studied a lot of the Jackson 5 and then when they became the Jacksons and just to see
03:54really focusing on Michael and how he's feeling in those moments.
03:58Also creatively what he wanted to express and that longing for that independence and what that felt like.
04:04But also creating as a group and what that brought out.
04:08But in particular it was important for me to understand the human side of Michael and that individual side of
04:13him that not a lot of people were familiar with.
04:16So that was very exciting for me to dive into.
04:18Coming from my own memories of him, there were a few cherishable memories that I have that it was more
04:25so the emotions that come out of him.
04:27More so than observing him with his mannerism and things like that.
04:32But the effect he had, you know, if you were to walk in a room and how palpable that was,
04:36you'd be able to feel it.
04:37But for me it was really looking into his own, his personal writings, his personal journaling.
04:42And that was truly informative to allow me into his mindset of how he was feeling, of what he wanted
04:49to achieve, you know, some goals he had written down.
04:52And it was such a blessing for me really to have access to that.
04:56And then I created this timeline room of so much information that really allowed me to stay grounded in it
05:04and not get lost in the way.
05:05So I really needed to see it, you know, with my own eyes.
05:08And that really informed me even with the script.
05:11So I knew where each, you know, timeline was and I understood what he was feeling.
05:16Also his personal notes allowed me to do that and place it in that time.
05:20Some of it was just how he thought like a marketing genius and how he went to be seen and
05:25he really studied that from other greats.
05:28And I feel like he incorporated that even with his videos, how a color can draw the audience's attention just
05:34by the color of a hat or a glove.
05:37Or that showing his socks a certain amount of inches and how he was hands-on with everything he created.
05:42But also his ability to have that sensitivity of what was going on in the world as well.
05:48And how he wanted to help the world through his music and continue that message.
05:52What I hope the audiences will feel and understand about this movie.
05:57I really hope they want to have a deeper understanding of Michael and a lot of the decisions and choices
06:03he made with the music and his artistic freedom.
06:06But also a deeper understanding of the family dynamics from the Jackson 5 all the way up until the Bad
06:13Tour.
06:13And what you see with that is it's a close family that had so much love in there.
06:19And while also having Joseph wanting to steer and protect his family.
06:23And there were so many different voices and people wanting to come in to get in that.
06:28And Joseph really wanted to protect that as much as he could.
06:31And then along comes with that is Michael's ability or him wanting to have that creative freedom.
06:36Not being stuck in a box wanting to reinvent himself.
06:39And that's something with Michael that really surprises a lot of people.
06:43He would never be allowed to be put in a box.
06:44He always wanted to create something that's unexpected and take the audience by surprise.
06:53It's natural. It's a flow. All together.
06:56This role was incredibly physically demanding.
07:00Initially started with Rich and Tone seeing if I had it in me to pull off the performances.
07:05And I know we had about 20 days of a boot camp basically.
07:10And within those 20 days we were breaking down the Billie Jean performance from Motown 25.
07:14And I was so self-conscious at that point.
07:17I was so, I guess, doubtful in the sense that I knew I couldn't get it down in that timeframe.
07:22I knew I needed more than 20 days.
07:24But within that time I really learned a lot about myself.
07:27That even though I wasn't pulling off a lot of the moves or knowing the meaning behind it.
07:31I still tried it again and again over and over until I got it right.
07:36Or if I didn't get it right I was still trying it.
07:38And I think once I had that time afterwards, after those 20 days, taking that time to Havenhurst and setting
07:45up mirrors in the same dancing room Michael would train in.
07:48I think that really was a spiritual journey for me.
07:52Just to be in that same energy, to sit in that space, but also just to dance for hours and
07:57hours every day.
07:58And look at it as a full-time job.
08:02It was life-changing for me to have that experience, even for my body.
08:07To not be, go from not dancing or having some rhythm, but then to doing full-on Michael Jackson moves,
08:13but performing.
08:14And it was all for myself at the moment.
08:16I had no audience.
08:17It was just me in some mirrors in a room and just grinding it out until I felt like I
08:23can fool myself in the mirror.
08:25I was working on Billie Jean. I was solely focused on that, I would say, for about close to a
08:30year, because that was the most challenging for me.
08:31And then I started to dance to other songs.
08:34Then I started to get comfortable to try and, you know, freestyle to other songs, but in Michael's vocabulary of
08:40his movements.
08:41And that became really fun.
08:43And the Moonwalk, I mean, as a kid I always used to try and do it.
08:46But it's different when you're doing it as a kid to when you're trying to do it just like Michael
08:51and look just like him doing it.
08:52The Moonwalk is very challenging for many different reasons.
08:56The flooring is important with the shoes you're wearing.
08:58And that was something new for me is being able to dance in loafers and getting used to that.
09:03Why did he choose loafers?
09:05I would say, you know, maybe Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, that style of how they were dancing and seeing that
09:12the white kind of penetrate through that.
09:15So it allows the eye to catch the movements a little cleaner.
09:18I think it had to do with that.
09:20But he wore loafers even when he wasn't dancing.
09:23And I think they just go with everything.
09:25But the Moonwalk, I'm still figuring that one out too.
09:28I would say the spin and the Moonwalk are definitely the most challenging.
09:33The way Michael spins, you know, going into it I didn't think it would be that hard.
09:37Or I knew it would be somewhat challenging but not as hard as it came out to be because I'm
09:42still, you know, trying to figure that out.
09:44I usually, if I were to spin, I spin to my right and Michael spins to his left.
09:48So it was so challenging to find that balance and get used to spinning on the opposite side where you're
09:53naturally used to and doing it in the way that looks just like Michael or to have that speed and
09:58intensity.
09:59Also being able to stop on a dime or right when that snare hits or to control that timing of
10:05when you stop and have the balance and then go into another transition of a move.
10:09Yeah, the more I studied his movements and looked at footage, there was some sense of magic it felt like
10:16or just like a phenomenon.
10:18Like the certain movements and transitions, it seemed as if it was a trick, illusion in that sense.
10:23And I know he was such a fan of that, of having that element of surprise or the element of
10:29magic within a performance to trick the audience to think it's something unusual going on.
10:35So for me that that came with just watching repeatedly over and over again certain movements to break down.
10:42Okay, where's his body? Where's the weight shifting on this foot and that foot to give that illusion effect?
10:47And also getting a lot of backstory from Rich and Tone, the choreographers, and because they had a lot of
10:53stories to tell from the rehearsals with Michael.
10:56Rich and Tone would tell me like if Michael saw a move or a few dancers doing something that he
11:02didn't, not that he didn't like, but that he felt could be better.
11:05He would just say, oh, can you do that again one more time? Or can you kind of call you
11:09out to do it in front of him?
11:11And he would just observe and circle around you while he was doing it. And then he would say, you're
11:16almost getting it. You almost got it.
11:18So to kind of push you to keep striving for more, those are one of the things that comes to
11:22me.
11:25The one glove. It's like for Michael, I would think that was his armor. You know, he didn't feel fully
11:31ready.
11:31If you didn't have some of those pieces on him to go out and perform it, like it added that
11:37dramatic and that sense of it's time to go out and put on a show.
11:41And I had some of that same experience, like when I was rehearsing, I felt like something was missing until
11:47I started to rehearse with actual, you know, wardrobe and pieces.
11:50And it really, it changed the energy of the performance when I would rehearse with the glove or rehearse with
11:55some of the actual jackets and fedoras.
11:57It informed me a lot. And I think the, the first thing that was most difficult for, for me and
12:04the movement was, was the pants, doing the kicks, making sure there's some stretch in there.
12:09So I don't rip them when I'm kicking or doing a side kick or an extended kick.
12:14That was, we had to create a lot of gussets in the pants to give me some room to do
12:20those moves.
12:21It's really interesting because Michael was so into the clothing of, especially the movements.
12:27And I just remember hearing stories about it when he was doing Smooth Criminal.
12:30He was trying to figure out why his tie wasn't moving with the spin the way he wanted it to
12:35when he stopped.
12:35So they put like a quarter in the tie to add more weight to it.
12:39So it had that effect when he would spin or he would try on jackets to make sure when he
12:43spins, they kind of float up and give that effect.
12:45So he was very in tune with how the dance would be perceived through the clothing as well.
12:51So he thought about every little nuance, which is, it's incredible.
12:55And I started to learn more about that when I was studying him.
12:57The most iconic costume, that's hard.
13:03Either Thriller or the Grammy outfit.
13:06But I think my favorite is the Grammy outfit.
13:08Just because all the beating and everything is handmade with that one.
13:12It was heavy, putting that one on.
13:15And I just love the way it looks when the light hits it.
13:18It's pretty incredible.
13:22Working on the body movements and mannerisms was fun for me.
13:26And that came with observing as much footage as I could on him, whether it's him in interviews or on
13:33stage.
13:34But mostly moments when he's not aware he's on camera.
13:37That's what I was looking for.
13:39For me, it was just dissecting and consuming as much of that as possible to a point where you're not
13:47consciously doing it.
13:48You're doing it without knowing it.
13:49And that's the place I wanted to be with that.
13:51That was the most important thing is capturing the essence.
13:54Not trying to copy or mimic exactly what he did.
13:58But doing it, finding my own truth in it that allows me to express it in that way.
14:03And that came with a lot of research and a lot of different things to try out and explore on
14:10my own.
14:10Also time.
14:11I think time was a big thing allowing me the space and freedom to explore those things.
14:17To see what worked, to see what didn't work.
14:19Also that spiritual journey side of it as well.
14:22To not force anything.
14:25Allow and trust things to come on its own at the same time.
14:28What helped me as an actor, I would say, is some of those personal writings of Michael's.
14:33Of his affirmations.
14:34He would always write things to.
14:37It was many different things, but a lot of the affirmations he had, they resonated with me for many different
14:43reasons.
14:43But depending on the day of what we were shooting, most important for me was to really stay present.
14:49And allow whatever I was feeling that day to come.
14:53And if it was something I didn't want, just allow it to kind of channel through me.
14:57And it will find its way out.
14:59And just to be an open source and not be restrained in any way.
15:03So I just wanted to walk on set ready and to go in any direction.
15:08But also knowing Michael's there with me.
15:09There were a few moments like that where I felt, yeah, he was definitely a present.
15:15Some of the performances, a few songs when I was performing.
15:19At some of the locations we were at, I definitely felt that.
15:22I think some of the crew felt that as well.
15:25I heard some stories, so there's a lot of love and protection and guidance on that set every day.
15:31I would think he'd be most proud of, jeez, I don't know, the performances, I would say.
15:38Some of the movements I was able to do, or I honestly don't know.
15:42But I would hope he feels the love and care that was put into it.
15:46To capture his essence and his genius, really.
15:50And his message, which I think he would be proud of.
15:53Is continuing that message of wanting to bring the world together.
15:56This is such a huge starting point for me into the world of acting.
16:01I definitely want to continue this and bring out other sides of me that have never been explored.
16:08And characters that will be very unexpected.
16:11And I'm super excited about that.
16:14And to collaborate with other genius creators, yeah.
16:17I hope you guys enjoyed learning about my approach on playing Michael Jackson.
16:21This is Shafar Jackson. Thank you so much.
16:23This is Shafar Jackson. Thank you so much.
16:23Thank you so much.
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