Featured Image Credit: Universal
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Entertainment, Music
Rhianna Benson
It's been just over a fortnight since the long-awaited Michael Jackson biopic landed in cinemas, and fans are still in awe over the King of Pop's portrayal.
The feature-length musical drama follows the early life of the much-loved star, his involvement in the Jackson 5, the Bad tour of the 1980s, and his final years in the spotlight.
Michael sees the singer portrayed in his childhood years by 12-year-old Juliano Krue Valdi and as an adult by his real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, both of whom make their on-screen debuts.
The supporting cast, meanwhile, includes Nia Long, who plays his mother, Katherine Scruse-Jackson, and Colman Domingo, as his father, Joseph.
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The rest of the Jackson siblings, La Toya, Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie are played respectively by Jessica Sula, Jamal R. Henderson, Tre Horton, Rhyan Hill and Joseph David-Jones, while Miles Teller takes on the role of Jackson's attorney, John Branca.
Released on 24 April in the US, the film has already raked in a staggering $424 million worldwide - despite facing criticism over its omission of late-career scandals and abuse allegations - making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2026.
The principal point of praise from movie critics has been 29-year-old Jaafar's portrayal of Jackson.
The singer's real mother, Katherine, also hailed her great-nephew for 'embodying' her late son, while Jaafar claimed he was 'humbled and honoured' to be cast as the Grammy-winning artist.
Several snaps of Jaafar and Jackson side-by-side have been circulating online for the last two weeks, with film lovers mesmerised by the resemblance between the two created by the hair and make-up team.
Taking to Reddit to share said photos, one user gushed about the casting department: "Dammmn. They killed it."
Another noted: "Uncanny resemblances for a biopic."
"Pretty damn spot-on casting and hair/makeup," a third went on.
"I think we all agree," a fourth wrote. "Jaafar is absolutely awesome casting, and he nailed it."
A fifth added: "Incredible work, let's hope for some makeup/costume nominations!"
Graham King, the film's director, who previously won an Oscar for the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, reflected on his decision to cast Jaafar.
"It wasn’t about what he was saying or even his look," he claimed. "It was just a feeling of rightness that was so strong I couldn’t ignore it. I felt something a bit like it when Rami Malek walked into my office and said, 'I’d love to play Freddie Mercury'."
He added: "But this took it to a whole new level. There was something so spiritual about Jaafar that just talking with him about Michael got me emotional.
"We looked at nearly 200 actors around the globe, and no one could beat Jaafar."
Discussing the actor's transformation for the role, as well as that of the rest of the cast, the film's costume designer, Marci Rodgers, told Vanity Fair: "From the socks to the gloves, I mean everything.
"Essentially, what Jaafar [Jackson] put on would be no different from the day that Michael Jackson put on that garment. I studied the research.
"I would literally compare not just what was in my book, but I also had old archives of Jet magazines.
"Any and everything that I could find at the time that might have had a clear picture of Michael and his brothers that would inform my final decision when it came to recreating all of the garments."