Everyone’s Confused By Joseph Fiennes Being Cast As Michael Jackson…Even Him

So when I first heard that British Actor Joseph Fiennes was being cast as Michael Jackson in a British TV special I thought it was a joke. I laughed at the random, bizarreness of it and moved on only to find myself reading another article on a serious news website. Turns out, the shit wasn’t a joke, it was actually real. After this whole controversy with the Oscars, Sky Arts, the British network airing the special doesn’t seem bothered with their casting of Fiennes. They describe the project as tongue and cheek so maybe they mean it as a joke. If that is the case someone should let Fiennes in on the joke because he seems a bit confused by it also, he sat down with Entertainment Tonight and said the following:

“I’m a white, middle-class guy from London, I’m as shocked as you may be…[Jackson] definitely had an issue — a pigmentation issue — and that’s something I do believe,” he explained. “He was probably closer to my color than his original color.”

The folks over at Sky Arts also issued a statement:

“Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon” is a Sky Arts comedy which takes a light hearted look at a reportedly true event; Joseph Fiennes is cast as Michael Jackson. It is part of a series of comedies about unlikely stories from arts and cultural history. Sky Arts puts the integrity of the creative vision at the heart of all its original commissions and we believe in giving producers the creative freedom to cast roles as they wish, within the diversity framework which we have set.”

I gotta be honest with you, I’m actually curious to see how this turns out. I know I say that a lot but with this I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY am curious how this thing comes together.

[Source: Huffington Post]