Colman Domingo Defends Controversial Michael Jackson Biopic

Colman Domingo has spoken out in defence of the recent Michael Jackson biopic.

The Oscar nominee played the late singer’s father, Joe Jackson, in the film, which was seemingly well-received by cinemagoers and a hit at the box office, although many critics took issue with the fact that it did not include the allegations of child sexual abuse levelled against the Billie Jean performer in his lifetime.

In fact, the movie was originally supposed to include scenes depicting the allegations, until the discovery of a legal clause in the settlement between Jackson and one of his child accusers, forbidding his name or likeness from ever being used in a film.

As a result, director Antoine Fuqua brought the cast and crew back for costly reshoots, with the film’s ending being shifted to 1988, before the allegations were made, and the Grammy winner’s relationship with his dad became the film’s focal conflict.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Domingo conceded that Michael was “not an easy shoot”.

“Every time the film was changing in some way, shape or form, there were discussions with me just to make sure that we’re clear about the story we’re telling,” he explained.

Still, Domingo said that he stands by the finished movie, claiming that it serves as an “examination of how Michael became Michael, before we deal with anything else”.

“Everyone thinks there’s one way to tell his story, and there isn’t,” he continued. “One can’t deny Michael’s genius and his extraordinary legacy in the music industry.”

Domingo was previously among the key figures associated with the movie who said that the allegations – and other controversies surrounding Jackson – could be explored in a potential sequel.

Since then, higher-ups at the movie studio Lionsgate have expressed hopes of making “at least one” follow-up to the first film, which Domingo also addressed during his latest interview.

“I will want to know what story we will be telling in part two,” the Euphoria actor noted.

Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua said last month that if a Michael sequel were to go ahead, he’d be keen to not “sensationalise anything”.

“Being a movie star, rock star, superstar like Michael, there’s enough of that already,” the director claimed. “You don’t have to do much. But I think the key is, like, who was he as a human being?

“Stay on that path and then we’ll be OK, because that’s what it’s about. It’s a biopic, it’s about a human being, he’s a real person. So that’s the key. People have to remember that.”

Read Colman Domingo’s full interview in The Hollywood Reporter here.