Long before Jaafar Jackson was chosen to portray Michael Jackson on screen, he was simply a young boy watching his famous uncle perform.
One performance stayed with him in particular: “Smooth Criminal.” Jaafar remembered seeing Michael perform the impossible-looking forward lean and wondering how any human being could do it. As a child, he did not understand the mechanics behind the move. To him, Michael looked like he had superpowers.
Years later, that childhood fascination grew when Jaafar was cast as Michael’s uncle.
Jaafar Jackson Thought Michael Had “Superpowers”
Being Michael Jackson’s nephew gave Jaafar a personal connection to the role, but it did not make the job easy. Michael’s performances depended on tiny details: the posture, the pauses, the way he moved his feet, and even how his clothes reacted while he danced.
Jaafar wanted to understand it all.
During rehearsals, he practiced while wearing pieces similar to Michael’s stage wardrobe, including fedoras, loafers, glittering socks, and heavier performance costumes. That let him learn how the movements felt under conditions closer to an actual performance, rather than simply practicing in ordinary workout clothes.
But Jaafar has also spoken about looking beyond Michael’s dancing.
Songs such as “Man in the Mirror” and “Heal the World” helped him see another side of his uncle: an artist who often used music to talk about compassion, responsibility, and change.
Michael Jackson Performs “Smooth Criminal”
The film also reaches back to Michael’s beginnings with The Jackson 5, before the moonwalk, stadium tours, and global superstardom. Songs like “ABC” reconnect the story to the period when Michael was still a child performing beside his brothers.
For Jaafar, playing Michael meant stepping into a role millions already knew by heart.
Instead of treating it as simple imitation, he focused on studying the details behind the performances and the person beneath the famous image.
The boy who once watched Michael Jackson on television and thought he was witnessing magic eventually found himself trying to recreate that same feeling for a new generation.