Right now the entertainment world cannot stop talking about one performance. Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s own nephew, plays the King of Pop in the new film Michael, and awards season has turned into a conversation about him.
You have probably seen the headlines. Predictors are placing him in the running for a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and his name keeps coming up for the big screen actor awards too. It sounds like the usual award-season guessing game that may or may not amount to anything.
Except here is the part a lot of people have missed. Jaafar is not just “in contention.” He has already started winning.
Earlier this year he was named Best Actor at the Astra Midseason Movie Awards. Days later he picked up Best Newcomer at the National Film Awards, where the film also took Outstanding Performance. For a man who had never acted in a single movie before this one, that is a staggering start. The Golden Globe and screen-actor talk is not wishful thinking. It is the rest of Hollywood catching up to what audiences already decided.
And none of it would mean a thing if the performance itself were not the real deal. That is the part you have to see for yourself:
Michael – Official Trailer (2026)
Watch how he moves, the voice and the stance and the small tilt of his head. It is less an impression and more like watching Michael step back onto the screen. People who grew up on the real thing have said there are stretches where they forget they are watching anyone else.
There is something poetic in who is pulling it off. A Jackson bringing another Jackson back to life, carrying the family name in front of a brand new generation that never got to see Michael perform live.
The movie itself has had its share of debate among critics. But on Jaafar, the verdict is already in, and the trophies on his shelf back it up. Whatever happens when the Globe and screen-actor nominations are announced, he has gone from the doubted first-timer to one of the most talked-about performances of the year.
Press play and see the performance that turned a rookie into an awards contender overnight.