Photo:Matthew Eisman/Getty; Carlo Allegri/Getty
Matthew Eisman/Getty; Carlo Allegri/Getty
Joseph Fiennesis reflecting on the most controversial role of his career:Michael Jackson.
“It was a wrong decision,” Fiennes toldThe Observeron Sunday in an interview about his on-camera work.
“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.”
Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson in ‘Urban Myths’: Courtesy Sky Arts.Courtesy Sky Arts
Fiennes’ casting as Jackson in the comedic series recreating apocryphal stories about celebritiesdrew outragewhen it was announced in 2016.
The music icon’s daughterParis Jacksonmade her feelings clear when she tweeted, “It honestly makes me want to vomit… It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother Liz as well.”
Soledad O’Brien joined those weighing in on Fiennes’ casting when a trailer for theUrban Mythsepisode appeared. “I woke up feeling like it’s going to be a beautiful day and then I remembered this is someone’s idea of Michael Jackson,”tweetedthe broadcaster.
At the time, production company Sky Arts told PEOPLE in a statement that the episode was “part of a series of comedies about unlikely stories from arts and cultural history. Sky Arts gives producers the creative freedom to cast roles as they wish, within the diversity framework which we have set.”
The Emmy-nominatedHandmaid’s Talestar had originallyexpressed surpriseabout the casting decision, tellingEntertainment Tonightin 2016, “I’m a white, middle-class guy from London.” Of Jackson’s skin color, which the singer claimed later in his life was a result of the skin disease vitiligo, Fiennes commented that “he was probably closer to my color than his original color.”
The actor now looks back at the whole experience with regret. “I think people are absolutely right to be upset,” Fiennes toldThe Observer. “I asked the broadcaster to pull it. And there were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice.”
source: people.com
