Joseph Fiennes Is Just As Shocked As You Are That He’s Playing Michael Jackson In A TV Movie

Yesterday, many of us said to ourselves, “I don’t remember dropping acid for lunch,” when it was announced that Joseph Fiennes is playing Michael Jackson in a British TV dramedy about a rumored road trip that La Toya’s brother took with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando after the 9/11 attacks. Stockard Channing is playing La Liz and Brian Cox is playing Brando and that seems about right, so brains spit out a question mark over Shakespeare playing MJ. I mean, the nose is all wrong.

Joseph Fiennes is out promoting some movie and Entertainment Tonight asked him about this fuckery. They also brought up how some people think it’s wrong that he, a white dude is playing Michael Jackson. Joseph had the same explanation a lot of people had, which is, “MJ was white!”

“I’m a white, middle-class guy from London. I’m as shocked as you may be.

[Jackson] definitely had an issue — a pigmentation issue — and that’s something I do believe. He was probably closer to my color than his original color. He was probably closer to my color than his original color. It’s a light comedy look. It’s not in any way malicious. It’s actually endearing.

It’s kind of off the wall, but the writing is a delight, and the kind of interaction between the three of them is funny, and also full of pathos. It’s people who are so iconic, but also can be detached. You know, you can get detached from society. So it’s examining that kind of wonderful and mad detachment.”

What the makers of this future peyote-infused train wreck should’ve done is just cast Tilda Swinton as all the roles. When you’re unsure, just cast alien nymph Tilda Swinton.

Pic: Wenn.com