Joseph Fiennes Says Michael Jackson Role Was a ‘Bad Mistake’
Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson. Photo: Sky Arts
Joseph Fiennes wants the smoke he was getting for playing Michael Jackson to clear. In a new interview, the Handmaid’s Tale and Shakespeare in Love actor said he regrets his decision to portray the king of pop in a 2017 episode of Urban Myths. “I think people are absolutely right to be upset,” Fiennes told The Guardian. “And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely.” He went on to take responsibility for the show’s poor judgment. “And I’m one part of that — there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions,” he said. “But obviously if I’m upfront, I have become the voice for other people. I would love them to be around the table as well to talk about it. But you know, it came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call. A bad mistake.” His current posturing is a bit different than it was while in the middle of the controversy. In a 2017 interview with Vulture, he said he wanted people to see him as Jackson to provoke a “discussion,” and did not say he regretted his “SNL”-like casting.
In the latest interview, though, he credits himself for his behind-the-scenes work of getting Sky Arts to drop the episode of the anthology series altogether, which focuses on Michael Jackson’s post-9/11 road trip with Elizabeth Taylor (Stockard Channing) and Marlon Brando (Brian Cox). At the time, Fiennes’s casting decision led to a whitewashing backlash. “And, just to say, I asked the broadcaster to pull it,” Fiennes added. “And there were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice.” Guess the real treasure was the casting consequences we learned along the way.
Source: Vulture
