JOSEPH FIENNES has spoken out after a huge race row erupts over the white actor playing Michael Jackson in new one-off comedy. Watch the video here.
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| Joseph Fiennes will play Michael Jackson. Yes, really |
UPDATE: Joseph Fiennes speak out
"I’m a white, middle-class guy from London. I’m as shocked as you may be, " Fiennes told Entertainment TonightWeekly over his casting as Michael Jackson.
"Michael 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."
Fiennes also told The Wrap that the filmmakers cast a white actor because they didn’t have the budget to pay for prosthetics.
"I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I think someone’s got this wrong. I mean, really?’” Fiennes said. "The budget was too low to do prosthetics or anything, so it literally is straight-forward makeup. And it’s really saying, ‘Look, audiences, it’s tongue-in-cheek.’
"No one’s trying to do an exact impersonation, but it’s just a sense of the fun of the road trip. If it did happen, maybe it happened like this. That’s all it is, a lighthearted take."
WATCH JOSEPH FIENNES TALK TO ET NEXT:
Michael Jackson may have sung that "It don't matter if you're black or white," but race and colour are at the centre of the latest Hollywood row.
The new Sky Arts one-off comedy Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon riffs on the urban myth that the stars took a spontaneous road trip across the country after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Despite no concrete evidence for the trip, all three stars were together in New York for the 30th Anniversary Michael Jackson tribute concert at Madison Square Gardens on September 7, 2001.
Stockard Channing and Brian Cox are perfect choices to play Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando, but the unexpected casting of Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson has started a huge media storm.
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| Take note, Joseph, this is what Jackson looked like in 2001 |
“It’s a challenge," Fiennes said about the new role, which may be the understatement of the cinematic century.
"It’s a comedy. It doesn’t poke mean fun but it’s a story, possibly urban legend, whereby Michael, Marlon Brando, and Liz Taylor were all together the day before 9/11 doing a concert.
"Airspace was shut down and they couldn’t get out and Michael had the bright idea to go to hire a car and drive.
“So the three of them got in a car and drove 500 miles to Los Angeles. It took them a while because they had to stop at a lot of Burger Kings for Marlon, but they got out!”
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| Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor at the concert days before their supposed road trip |
Social media immediately erupted with angry and mocking comments, referencing the current Oscars racism row started by Jada Pinkett Smith and the recent controversy over Idris Elba's suitability to play James Bond.
"Joseph Fiennes can play Michael Jackson. (A real person). But Idris can't play James Bond (a fake spy for a fake agency)? Cool, cool, cool," mocks one comment.
Some users take it even further with a call to protest against the new film.
"Who's on board with boycotting the whitewashing of Michael Jackson in a show where Joseph Fiennes has been casted to play him?" asks one angry voice on Twitter.
Joseph Fiennes can play Michael Jackson. (A real person). But Idris can't play James Bond (a fake spy for a fake agency)? Cool, cool, cool.
— Prentice Penny (@The_A_Prentice) January 27, 2016Whose on board with boycotting the whitewashing of Michael Jackson in a show where Joseph Fiennes has been casted to play him?
— 2/18✨ (@LeifEmill) January 27, 2016still hoping this is some awful joke: apparently joseph fiennes to play michael jackson... ht @marcuswstowhttps://t.co/Xjhv9OlgrZ
— Knox (@knox_o) January 25, 2016
The timing of the news is particularly incendiary as Hollywood is rocked with claims of racism and the under-representation of minorities in films and at awards ceremonies.
Jada Pinkett's Smith outrage at the absence of any minority nominees in the main categories at this year's Oscars has prompted a boycott of the ceremony by the star and her husband, Will Smith.
Michael Jackson's ever paler face was a result of vitiliogo, which causes the skin to lose pigment, but casting a white actor to play the role seems unnecessary and ill-judged.
It's not the first time that British stars have been slemmed over race issues. Jennifer Lawrence and the Ab Fab team were accused of "Yellowface" recently.
Sky Arts have been quick to counter accusations of inappropriate 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," a spokesperson said.
"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."
Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon will come to Sky Arts later in 2016 (date TBC).
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