It's been quite the week for Joseph Fiennes; he's been in the press two days in a row now. Yesterday, news broke that he'd be cast to portray Michael Jackson in a Road Trip movie which also involved the presence of Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando driving from NYC during 9/11 to Ohio.
In the wake of the backlash over the casting of a white man as Michael Jackson in (working title) 'Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon', Fiennes has this to say by way of response via Entertainment Tonight: "I’m a white, middle-class guy from London. I’m as shocked as you may be... It’s kind of off the wall (badum-tish), but the writing is a delight... [Jackson] definitely had an issue - a pigmentation issue - and that’s something I do believe. He was probably closer to my colour than his original colour."
While we're bandying about Jackson song titles, here's one that might be applicable in this case.
SKY Arts released this statement regarding the casting: “Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon is a Sky Arts comedy which takes a light hearted look at a reportedly true event; Joseph Fiennes is cast as Michael Jackson. It is 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."
