In partnership with Universal Pictures UK
From The Jackson 5‘s early dive bar performances and TV debut, to Michael Jackson‘s groundbreaking music videos and first-ever solo tour, this film puts MJ’s stagecraft front and centre. Here’s a guide to three incendiary performance sequences from the movie.
‘Billie Jean’ at the Motown 25 special, 1983
Produced by Suzanne De Passe, who is portrayed in Michael by Laura Harrier, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a lavish TV special commemorating 25 years of the label that launched The Supremes, The Temptations and The Jackson 5. On the night, Michael joined his brothers for a jubilant hits medley before delivering a solo rendition of ‘Billie Jean’, which was Number One at the time. Wearing an outfit that would become much-imitated – a black sequin jacket accessorised with a black fedora and oversized white glove – he debuted his new signature dance move: the ludicrously fluid, impossible-looking moonwalk.
“Everyone over a certain age remembers the moment Michael did the moonwalk and how it became instantly iconic,” says the film’s director, Antoine Fuqua. “We felt an enormous responsibility to get that historic event exactly right.” So, to make his film’s recreation of the performance as authentic as possible, Fuqua hired the same venue that Motown 25 was filmed in: the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles County. Once inside, his director of photography, Dion Beebe, cleverly crafted a cinematic riff on Michael’s famed routine.
“We did a lot of research on the broadcast and the precise camera angles used. And then with that foundation, we went for a little more, as we felt Michael would have done,” Beebe says. “We emphasised new details – the sharp movement of his gloved hand, the throwing of the fedora, the precision of his feet – just to really draw the audience in.” Naturally, the beating heart of this sequence is Jaafar Jackson’s incredible ability to channel his uncle. As costume designer Marci Rodgers recalls, “Jaafar hit the stage in that sequinned costume, and as soon as the light hit him, I said to myself, ‘Oh, that is Michael.'”
‘Beat It’ music video rehearsal, 1983
Music videos were a vital outlet for Michael’s artistry. As we see in the film, he preferred to promote his music through concise visual storytelling than by giving traditional press interviews. When MTV launched in 1981, it was widely criticised for playlisting very few black artists, but Michael’s innovative, big-budget videos became early staples and helped to pave the way for a more racially integrated approach. The ‘Beat It’ clip, shot on location at Los Angeles’ Skid Row, exemplifies his mastery of the form.
Michael insisted on telling its anti-violence storyline using real-life members of two LA gangs, the Crips and the Bloods. “Michael really did have that intense meeting with gang members you see in the movie,” Fuqua says. “Of course, the production company thought he was crazy to put them in his video, but he did it anyway – and because it was Michael, the gang members all showed up and were respectful. Many people don’t know just how hard Michael worked to give people opportunities, so this moment felt really important.” As Fuqua’s film reminds us, the ‘Beat It’ music video was a formative moment that revealed a lot about Michael Jackson, both as a performer and as a person.
‘Bad’ at Wembley Stadium, 1988
Comprising 123 shows on four continents, the record-breaking ‘Bad World Tour’ was Michael’s first as a solo artist. Up until this point, despite his string of hits from ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ to ‘Bad’, he had only ever toured with The Jackson 5. “He’d announced his transition into his solo career, and here Michael appears at Wembley in leather and straps with an all-new persona,” Beebe explains.
Midway through the tour, Michael performed to more than half a million fans across five nights at London’s hallowed Wembley Stadium. One of these seminal gigs, which was attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana, was recorded for a home video release. Remarkably, Fuqua chose to film Michael’s recreation of ‘Bad’ at Wembley Stadium on day one of production. His thinking was that Jaafar could gain a massive amount of confidence by smashing such a tricky sequence at the very start of the shoot.
“We were all going into that day thinking, ‘Can Jaafar really pull this off?’ And man, when the music started and he hit those first few moves… I mean, he killed it,” the director says. “He killed it to the point that when I yelled ‘cut!’, our crowd of extras was still screaming for him.”
Behind the lens, Beebe decided to spotlight the sheer physical exertion that went into Michael’s impeccable stagecraft. “I wanted the camera to really get into Jaafar’s personal space to the point it’s almost a little uncomfortable, where you can see his breath, his sweat, his concentration, and everything within him becomes very present and clear,” he says.