Antoine Fuqua’s latest film, Michael, a biopic about Michael Jackson’s journey from family band member to solo recording artist, is cleaning up at the box office. But just who is the star taking on the King of Pop? Jaafar Jackson, who plays Michael in Michael, didn’t have to go far from home to play this part.
Not only is he Michael Jackson’s actual nephew (Jaafar’s father is Jermaine Jackson, the third oldest former member of the Jackson Five) he also grew up with several siblings and is a musician in his own right. That is him singing in the movie.
This is Jaafar’s first and only acting role, though he did appear on the short-lived reality series The Jacksons: Next Generation that was about the members of 3T, a singing group comprised of Tito Jackson’s sons Taj, Taryll and TJ. Some members of the Kardashian family appear in the series as well. So does Prince Jackson, MJ’s son, who is an executive producer on Michael along with Jaafar’s dad and several of their aunts and uncles. (Jackie, Marlon, La Toya, and Tito to be exact. That includes every living original member of the Jackson Five.)
Michael was kind of a Jackson family group project, but not completely. Jaafar’s cousin and Prince’s sister Paris Jackson has made it clear that she only read an early draft of the screenplay. According to an IG story, Paris provided notes that may or may not have been implemented. The model, recording artist, and actress, who has several film and television credits to her name, is not listed as a producer and presumably was not involved in Fuqua’s Michael beyond that.
Will Jaafar continue acting after this? We’ll have to wait and see. Juliano Krue Valdi, who plays the even younger Michael Jackson in the movie, was on an episode of 9-1-1 earlier this year. The rest of the Jackson family in the movie are portrayed by working actors from outside the IRL Jackson family, including Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo and Nia Long as the Jackson’s parents, Jessica Sula from Skins as La Toya and Joseph David-Jones from Arrow as Jackie. Jaafar, like his late uncle, is the exception.
