Jaafar Jackson is Michael Jackson’s nephew. He’s the son of Jermaine Jackson, one of Michael’s older brothers, and this year he played Michael in the biopic “Michael.” Before that movie he’d never acted a day in his life.
But there’s something else about Jaafar that catches people off guard. Growing up, he didn’t really understand that his family was famous.
He told Variety he grew up in a house that was always packed. “I grew up with a lot of siblings and cousins who visited on weekends and every holiday,” he said. “About 30 to 40 family members were at the house, so we had lots of game nights and family cookouts, with music playing.” To him that was just ordinary life. The famous last name and the gold records didn’t mean much to a little kid.
In the interview below, Jaafar walks through what that childhood felt like, and the exact moment it finally clicked.
Jaafar Jackson on growing up inside the Jackson family
The moment came when he was about six. His father and uncles were getting back together to perform at Michael’s 30th Anniversary concerts in New York, the shows that marked Michael’s 30 years as a solo artist. According to Rolling Stone, it was the first time the brothers had performed together in public since 1984.
Little Jaafar watched his dad and uncles walk out in front of a screaming crowd. Most kids would have been thrilled. He wasn’t.
He was scared.
“I didn’t really realize who my family was until I was around six, when I saw them perform in New York for their 30th anniversary,” he told Variety. “Hearing the fans scream, I was scared because I didn’t understand how intense it was to see people react to someone like that.”
That was the night it all made sense to him. “I first saw that when my dad and uncles came out on stage as the Jackson 5,” he said, “and that’s the first memory I can recall of, ‘Oh, they’re important in some way. They have a huge fan base.'”
You can watch that reunion yourself. The brothers ran through a medley of their old Jackson 5 hits, the same songs young Jaafar would’ve heard around the house without thinking twice about them.
The Jackson brothers reunite for a medley at Michael’s 30th Anniversary show
Back home, away from the lights and the noise, the Jacksons were just a big, competitive family. Jaafar says game night got serious. “It was always Pictionary. Boys versus girls, no doubt,” he said. “It was pretty competitive, because the boys always like to brag. I think our streak was like 15 years.”
That’s the family Jaafar knew first. The screaming crowds, and what they really meant, came later.