Joseph Fiennes has opened up about his regrets about playing Michael Jackson in 2017, saying it was the "wrong decision."
The 53-year-old actor - whose brother is Ralph Fiennes, AKA Voldemort in Harry Potter - spoke to The Observer about his colorful career and upcoming role as England football manager Gareth Southgate, as well as some of the less memorable moments he's experienced as an actor.
One of these was his role as the King of Pop in an episode of the Sky Arts anthology series Urban Myths.
The plot for that episode was centered around a car trip with Jackson, Marlon Brando, and Elizabeth Taylor, but it was pulled from broadcast before it even had the chance to air, after the trailer for the series was met with intense backlash from the public.
At the time, people had accused the series of 'whitewashing' and Jackon's daughter Paris even tweeted at the time: "It honestly makes me want to vomit," per The Observer.
Soon after realizing the depiction of the 'Billy Jean' singer was on the more problematic side of things due in part to him being played by a white actor with heavy prosthetics, Sky released a statement announcing that it had pulled the episode.
"We have taken the decision not to broadcast 'Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon,' a half-hour episode from the Sky Arts Urban Myths series, in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson's immediate family.
"We set out to take a light-hearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offense. Joseph Fiennes fully supports our decision," the statement added, per MovieWeb.
In his recent interview, Fiennes recounted the decision to play Jackson and admits he understands why the casting was highly controversial. "I think people are absolutely right to be upset. And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely. And I'm one part of that - there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions. But obviously, if I'm upfront, I have become the voice for other people.
"I would love them to be around the table as well to talk about it. But you know, it came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call. A bad mistake," he stated.
He added, "And, just to say. I asked the broadcaster to pull it. And there were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice."
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