Two Years of Archives and an Acting Coach: Jaafar Jackson's Prep to Play Michael
Bringing Michael to life took two years of preparation before Jackson officially landed the role: he built his own archive of songs, demos, journals, rehearsals and performances, worked with acting coach Angela Gibbs, and immersed himself in Stanislavski, Meisner and Uta Hagen. Nailing the signature voice and tone came first.
As for what comes next, Jackson says he hasn't been told anything concrete, but that whatever decision is made he is more than ready to get back into it.
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Two years before a frame of the film was shot, he wrote down a list of goals, and one of them was to beat Bohemian Rhapsody and cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Planning a record-setting run while you are still preparing for the part is either enormous confidence or an unusually tidy spreadsheet.
The goals list is the fun detail; the archive is the real story. Songs, demos, journals, rehearsals, three acting techniques — and the voice tackled before anything else, which is the one thing a performance like this cannot fake.