Joseph Fiennes Says Playing Michael Jackson Was a “Grave Mistake”

Although the project was never released, Joseph Fiennes being cast to play Michael Jackson in 2017 created a “whitewashing” controversy.

Now, the actor regrets taking on the role of the music icon in an episode of the anthology series. “Urban Myths” .

The plot was about Jackson, Marlon Brando (played by Brian Cox) and Elizabeth Taylor (played by Stockard Channing) supposedly taking a road trip across the country after 9/11.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Fiennes addressed the backlash to his casting.

“I think people are absolutely right to be upset,” he said.

“And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely,” she declared. “And I’m part of that – there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions. But obviously, if I’m direct, I’ve become other people’s voices.”

“I would love for them to be around the table as well to talk about this,” added Fiennes. “But you know, it came at a time when there was movement and change and that was a good decision, and it was a bad decision. A serious mistake.”

Due to the uproar, the episode never aired, something Fiennes took some credit for during his interview.

“I asked the network to take it down,” he said. “And there were some pretty heavy discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice.”

Fiennes initially defended the decision in a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“It’s Michael in his final days, when, I have to say, he looked downright different from when we grew up with him in the 1980s or earlier,” Fiennes said at the time.

“The decision with the cast and the producers – I fought over it, I was confused and shocked at what could happen, and I knew the sensitivity, especially for Michael’s fans and for Michael’s family. That doesn’t deny who he was.”

In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson rejected the idea of ​​having a white actor portray him on screen.

Winfrey asked him about reports that he wanted Pepsi to cast a white actor to play him as a child in a commercial.

“This is so stupid,” Jackson said at the time. “This is the most ridiculous and horrible story I have ever heard. It’s crazy.”