The huge success of Michael took me by surprise. I knew it would be popular, as I’m a child of the ‘80s and I remember just how huge Michael Jackson was. In fact, the first cassette tape I ever owned was Thriller, which I got for Christmas in 1982 or 1983. Still, I didn’t think Michael would crush the 2026 movie schedule the way it did when it rang up north of a billion dollars at the box office. As for my opinion on the movie, I think it’s…well…fine.
However, Jaafar Jackson’s performance is spectacular. I honestly think he should be nominated for an Oscar, though I’m skeptical that he will be. Obviously, I’m not alone in my praise for Michael’s nephew’s acting, singing, and dancing skills shown off in the film. His performance has been lauded by virtually everyone, even those who didn’t like Michael. Another person who loved the performance is Prince Jackson, Michael’s youngest son and Jaafar’s cousin.
Prince recently spoke to The Associated Press and talked about his cousin playing his dad, and he definitely loved it. Prince said:
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I’m so thankful that the world has embraced his performance and his embodiment of my father in the way in which they did. But I think that it would be incredible for him to get the acknowledgement from his peers in this field of the creative artistry, the determination and the discipline I think that went into this.
The performance by Jaafar wasn’t luck, either. He didn’t rely on his family name (Jaafar’s father is the late Jermaine Jackson) to coast through the movie. He worked his tail off to give that performance. His practice sessions have become the stuff of legend already. Prince noted this in his comments as well, saying:
He’s a little bit older than me. We grew up together, but I watched my cousin work his butt off. He locked himself in our family home in Hayvenhurst for weeks at a time. And we would see each other regularly, weekends or whatever. But, during that time when he was working, didn’t see Jaafar. [The] only time we saw him was when he was dancing or sweating or locked in his room when he was doing his character research.
Unfortunately, the Academy often seems to forget movies that are released in the first half of any year, as Michael was when it came out in April. That means that Jaafar Jackson is likely going to be overlooked come Oscar nomination morning in January. It’s also a big, splashy movie about a man, Michael, who isn’t without serious controversy. Controversy, it’s worth noting, that the movie doesn’t get into.
I don’t think that’s on Jaafar, though, and for his performance, he is worthy of great praise. It’s nice to see his cousin (and the son of the man he’s playing) lavish that upon him. Maybe it’ll bring more attention to the people who vote. In the meantime, if you want to watch the performance again, it’s available with the Starz add-on to a Prime subscription.